Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7, Verse 6 (BG 7.6) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 7.6 — Translation of Meaning From the interplay of the superior and inferior natures described above, this manifold and variegated creation emerges. The conscious principle cannot express its power without inert matter, nor can inert matter function as an instrument of consciousness without it. Just as electricity within a filament manifests as light through the bulb, so too does consciousness require both the subtle and gross principles to express itself. The Lord therefore declares that these two natures are the source of all beings. A discerning student will readily grasp this truth: the external world of objects, emotions, and thoughts originates, persists, and dissolves within conscious being alone. Thus, the inferior nature is not fundamentally separate from the superior nature. The atman, forgetting its true nature, identifies itself with the inferior nature and thereby experiences the sufferings of individual existence. Yet this suffering is illusory, not real. Recognition of one's true nature is the sole means of liberation from bondage to the non-self. As clay vessels emerge from clay itself, so does the inferior nature arise from the superior. In all vessels, clay alone is the ultimate reality. Similarly, in the objects of sense, the senses, the mind, and the intellect—all modifications of the inferior nature—the conscious principle alone is the true substance. Therefore...