59 pages • 1 hour read
Swami Prabhavananda, Transl. Christopher IsherwoodBhagavad Gita
Nonfiction | Scripture | Adult | Published in 1972A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary: “Knowledge and Experience”
Krishna calls on Arjuna to “devote your whole mind to me” (70) and the practice of yoga. Doing so will allow Arjuna “know” Krishna, which means to step toward enlightenment. He tells Arjuna how to know him so as to remove any doubt about the benefits. Krishna’s material nature (referred to as part of his Prakriti) is made from eight elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and ego. Krishna also has a higher nature that holds together the world “like pearls strung on a thread” (71). There is nothing higher than Krishna.
Krishna’s material nature also encompasses everything within him, including all sights, sounds, and smells. The world fails to recognize Krishna’s true form, however, as he stands apart from everything. His only solution is to teach people how to know him properly. People who commit evil acts are stuck on the wrong path as they have not turned toward Krishna. They lack wisdom and judgement.
Krishna recognizes four types of good people: “the world-weary, the seeker for knowledge, the seeker for happiness, and the man of spiritual discrimination” (72). The man of spiritual discrimination is the best of these. He is the wise man whom Krishna loves just as the man loves him.
