Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 7 (BG 5.7) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

In the previous verse, it was briefly described that through the practice of karma yoga, the seeker attains purification of consciousness and, with the aid of meditation, realizes Brahman. The present verse offers a reasoned and detailed examination of the inner transformation that occurs within the seeker as he breaks through the limitations and bondages of the present moment and strives toward the realization of the infinite Self. The person united with karma yoga attains purification of the inner faculties—which means the greatest possible inner peace of the mind. The least disturbance of the mind is an indicator of its purification. In other words, this is the diminishment of desires. When the desires that cause mental agitation are destroyed, that person naturally becomes balanced. For such a karma yogi whose inner faculties are purified, restraint over the senses becomes child's play. He can willfully engage the senses in their objects and also withdraw them. The seeker who has complete mastery over body, mind, and intellect is most fit for the highest practice of meditation. The chief obstacles in deep meditation are worldly tendencies, mental distraction, and unfulfilled desires. Once these chains are broken, meditation becomes natural and accessible. Then the seeker experiences the Self directly, immediately, and in its completeness. Self-realization cannot be partial. If a seeker experiences only himself as divine and pure, but not others, then his experience cannot be called genuine and authentic. For the person who has attained true vision, the pure Self pervades everywhere and in all times. When one views the world from this spiritual perspective, one perceives the eternal Self dwelling in all beings everywhere. Such a wise person is called here "one whose Self is the Self of all beings"—meaning the person whose own Self is the Self of all creatures. When a wave recognizes its true nature as the ocean, then for that wave established in knowledge, no other wave can be separate from the ocean. The person established in Self-realization, when he acts in the world, those actions do not produce results in the form of desires. The bondage of karmic fruits can only bind the ego, and since the wise person lacks this ego, how can actions bind him? Like writing upon flowing water, the actions of the wise person do not create desires in his consciousness. Lord Sri Krishna repeatedly establishes the principle of karma yoga. This verse makes clear that actions performed under the impulse of ego and selfishness generate desires and cloud the discriminative power of the intellect, preventing a person from experiencing his own inherent pure and divine nature. What will be the perspective of the perfected person, established in the experience of the all-pervading Supreme Self, when he looks upon life? The Lord says: