BG 7.30 — Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 7.30Chapter 7 · Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

साधिभूताधिदैवं मां साधियज्ञं च ये विदुः ।

प्रयाणकाले ऽपि च मां ते विदुर् युक्तचेतसः ॥

sādhibhūtādhidaivaṃ māṃ sādhiyajñaṃ ca ye viduḥ

prayāṇa-kāle 'pi ca māṃ te vidur yukta-cetasaḥ

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Those who know Me as the ground of matter, of the cosmic powers, and of sacrifice keep that knowing steady even at the moment of death, their minds held firm.

ekras · bhāṣya

The chapter closes with the second sutra-statement for ch8. Three more topics named: adhibhuta, adhidaiva, adhiyajna — completing the seven of ch8. The closing claim is the chapter's last reassurance: this knowing holds at prayana-kala, the moment of body-fall. The chitta does not collapse at death; the yoga sustains.

Shankara reads the verse cleanly. Those whose minds are concentrated know Krishna as encompassing adhibhuta — the perishable field of gross existence — adhidaiva — the presiding deity-principle — and adhiyajna — the sacrificial operation within the body. Three apparent distinctions resolve into one undivided Brahman in the seer's recognition. The yukta-chetas at death is not a separate achievement; it is the same recognition continuing across the moment.

Ramanuja distinguishes three classes addressed by ye. The aishvarya-arthin, the mumukshu, the jnanin — all three are bound by the unavoidable performance of nitya-naimittika rites, making the threefold knowing structurally relevant to each. The yukta-chetas at prayana-kala is the fruit common to all three classes; the chapter does not narrow at the close but widens.

Madhusudana argues that for genuine bhaktas, forgetting the Lord at death — even when the senses are overpowered — is simply not possible. The accumulated samskara-patava — the sharpness of devotional impressions — converts the chitta-vritti into a Krishna-akara effortlessly. The yukta-chetas is the working out of accumulated samskara.

Madhva keeps the dependence-frame: those jivas who know Hari as svatantra Lord pervading adhibhuta, adhidaiva, adhiyajna, abide in him at the moment of departure as well.

Vallabha names ye as a new class of jijnasus: their inquiry is not transactional but is itself prasada-yielding.

Shridhara reads the verse as a reassurance against yoga-bhramsha: the chitta remains firmly attached to Krishna because the inner orientation has been fully resolved.

Context

where

Chapter 7 · Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 7.29

Those who take shelter in me, striving to break free from old age and death, come to know Brahman completely, the nature of the self, and the full scope of action.

What's going on

Those who know Me as the ground of matter, of the cosmic powers, and of sacrifice keep that knowing steady even at the moment of death, their minds held firm.

Sūtras through this verse (64)

JayatīrthaclassicalB

Pañcabheda — the five distinctions enforced verse by versebetween

7.5Higher prakṛti is Lakṣmī, not matter.───→here7.30───→8.4Adhiyajña is Viṣṇu, not the worshipper.

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

7.1First hexad ends, middle hexad opens.───→here7.30───→13.1Two niṣṭhās, three kāṇḍas — keystone.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

7.7Nothing higher than Me; I string it all.───→here7.30───→9.4World in Me, not Me in it.

show all 64

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)station · anchor

───→here7.30───→

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

7.13Why this declaration? The gloss must answer.───→here7.30───→11.16Aneka- is not just two-or-more.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyabetween

7.1First ṣaṭka closed; new pratijñā opens.───→here7.30───→12.1Avyakta follows the manifest rūpa.

JayatīrthaclassicalE

Vishnu-sarvottamatva read into apparently neutral wordsbetween

7.5Higher prakṛti is Śrī, not the eight-fold.───→here7.30───→8.3Akṣara is Viṣṇu, not quality-less.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

7.23Their fruit is finite; His own is the goal.───→here7.30───→9.7Even pralaya keeps jīva-tāratamya.

JayatīrthaclassicalG

Citation as proof — śruti, smṛti, MB, Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pañcarātrabetween

7.5Parā-prakṛti backed by Pañcarātra.───→here7.30───→11.16Aṣṭādhyāyī 5.4.78 settles aneka-.

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhabetween

7.13Nanu vijñāna-rūpaṁ — canonical shape.───→here7.30───→12.5Avyakta-rival raised, then answered.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

7.5Surrounding clause picks literal Śrī.───→here7.30───→11.16Aneka- means many; no upacāra needed.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

7.18The wise one is Myself, by grace alone.───→here7.30───→9.22Grace alone — never calculation of merit.

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

7.1Seven-verse prelude opens the bhakti-ṣaṭka.───→here7.30───→9.1Single-verse prelude names the secret of secrets.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderbetween

7.1The bhakti-ṣaṭka opens the third stage.───→here7.30───→13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

7.6From these two natures all beings come forth.───→here7.30───→13.2The kṣetra-knower in every field is the Lord himself.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

7.1The play-Person of every form opens chapter 7.───→here7.30───→9.32The unsheltered run to their cowherd-Lord.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

7.14Surrender is the only way past the Lord's māyā.───→here7.30───→9.22The Bhāgavata block grounds grace-only doctrine.

VallabhaclassicalK

Aphorism, gloss, full commentarybetween

7.1The gloss-stage opens with chapter seven.───→here7.30───→13.2The Lord himself writes the third ṣaṭka. .

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

7.1Middle hexad named: tat-padārtha begins.───→here7.30───→12.20Middle hexad closes; tat-pada sealed.

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsbetween

7.1Lord answers a question Arjuna did not ask.───→here7.30───→8.1Recap-and-bind: Ch 8 carries Ch 7 forward.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

7.1Doubt about refuge, blocked by mad-āśraya.───→here7.30───→13.1Boundary protected by stylized doubt.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelbetween

7.2Bhakti's fruit is jñāna itself.───→here7.30───→12.12Bhakti's gradient ends in jñāna.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousbetween

7.4Two-fold prakṛti is the Lord's own power.───→here7.30───→13.1Prakṛti's autonomy blocked at boundary. Anchor.

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstbetween

7.1Word-fit holds at the architectural seam.───→here7.30───→13.1Same discipline at the keystone chapter.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

7.1Open the second ṣaṭka: mind clung to Me.───→here7.30───→9.1The royal secret of the second ṣaṭka.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

7.19After many lives — home.───→here7.30───→8.14Easily reached by unbroken recollection.

RāmānujaclassicalF

Two prakṛtis · jīva as eternal aṃśabetween

7.13Modes hide the higher.───→here7.30───→13.20Both natures beginningless.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerbetween

7.25My power, not your blindness, hides Me.───→here7.30───→13.2Those who posit ajñāna in Brahman fail.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

7.14Surrender alone crosses the māyā.───→here7.30───→9.32Even the lowest birth reaches Me through this.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

7.18He is My self; I cannot hold without him.───→here7.30───→9.34Set toward Me, the seeker's whole posture.

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningbetween

7.1First six unfold 'you,' middle six unfold 'that.'───→here7.30───→12.20The middle six are sealed and finished.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsbetween

7.16Four kinds of devotee, ranked by ripeness.───→here7.30───→12.1Saguṇa or nirguṇa? Depends on who's asking.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

7.16The lover-knower stands at the top of the four.───→here7.30───→9.22Constant thought of Me is self-contemplation itself.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

7.1A bow to the bliss-cloud, Nanda's son, opens seven.───→here7.30───→8.1I take refuge in Kāśirāja, the king of Kashi.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanapproach

───→here7.30───→9.22I myself am the Lord, the Self of all.

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicapproach

───→here7.30───→9.13Great souls take refuge in divine nature.

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)station

───→here7.30───→

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

7.14Those who take refuge cross the māyā.───→here7.30───→9.22For the undivided, I carry it Myself.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

7.21Whatever form is worshipped, I steady it.───→here7.30───→9.24Receiver of every rite is the indweller alone.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

7.18The jñānin is dearest; not interchangeable.───→here7.30───→9.34Refuge is not bondage by another name.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionbetween

7.1'Mayy āsakta-manāḥ' resolves the 6.47 hint.───→here7.30───→9.1Chapter 7's residue of wonder forces 9's disclosure.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

7.22The fruits of those rites are ordained by Me.───→here7.30───→9.20Soma-drinking heaven- seekers worship Me too.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

7.17The wise lover is my own dearest one.───→here7.30───→9.22I carry getting and keeping for them.

ŚrīdharaclassicalD

The path that turns no one awaybetween

7.21Whichever form I steady that faith.───→here7.30───→9.30Even fallen conduct, love makes pure.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

7.21I am the one who steadies your chosen faith.───→here7.30───→8.5Remember Me as the inner-ruler form.

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

7.17Always-yoked, fixed on the One alone.───→here7.30───→8.14Mind on no other, constantly remembers Me.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

7.12The modes come from the Lord, not in Him.───→here7.30───→13.21Clinging to modes causes any new birth.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

7.1Mind on Me, refuge wholly in Me.───→here7.30───→9.22For the undivided I personally provide.

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsbetween

7.15The demonic never come near to Me.───→here7.30───→9.12Vain hopes, vain acts, their own punishment.

ŚrīdharaclassicalK

Death-memory as the test of daily habitapproach

───→here7.30───→8.5Whoever remembers Me at the last reaches Me.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalH

The Lord is friend of every beingstation

───→here7.30───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalF

The Lord is born only as it werebetween

7.25The magician sees through his own illusion.───→here7.30───→15.16Both the changing and changeless are below the supreme.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personbetween

7.16Of the four devotees, the knower is dearest.───→here7.30───→9.22For those who see only Me I myself bear all need.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalA

Knowing and acting are one powerbetween

7.1Together they cover everything to be known.───→here7.30───→11.18Sat names the union of the two powers.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionbetween

7.24Failure of seeing, not absence of presence.───→here7.30───→11.1Now: experience what was taught.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessbetween

7.12Modes from the Lord — the Lord not in them.───→here7.30───→14.5Three primary contractions of cit.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionapproach

───→here7.30───→9.22Consciousness tending its own self-knowing modes.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalG

After knowing, act only to hold the worldexit

5.8I do nothing at all, says the knower.───→here7.30───→

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

7.5Doubled prakṛti named from a single śruti.───→here7.30───→12.6Saukarāyaṇa-śruti ranks the personal route.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

7.16Four kinds approach; the devoted is best.───→here7.30───→9.22For the undivided, I personally provide.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordbetween

7.14Only by surrender does the māyā lift.───→here7.30───→14.3Three goddesses named in a single śruti.

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

7.14Cross the maya───→here7.30───→9.22Yogakshema

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

7.19After many births───→here7.30───→9.13Mahātmas of divine nature

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologybetween

7.21'Yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktah shraddhayarchitum ichchhati.' Whatever form the dev───→here7.30───→9.4'Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina.' All this universe is pervaded by

Śabda · lemmas (14 unique · 18 occurrences)

विदुः √vid ×2 — to know; to find (verbal root) · past indicative 3rd person plural verb

show all 14

स sa ×2 — with, having (prefix); also: he, that (pronoun)
माम् mad ×2 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · accusative singular noun
च ca ×2 — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
अधिभूत adhibhūta — the elemental / material plane · compound
अधिदैवम् adhidaiva — the divine / presiding deity plane · accusative masculine singular noun
अधियज्ञम् adhiyajña — (adhi- + yajña: sacrifice) · accusative masculine singular noun
ये yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative masculine plural noun
प्रयाण prayāṇa — departure, journey, death (pra- + √yā 'go') · compound
काले kāla — time; death; the appropriate time · locative masculine singular noun
अपि api — also, even, although
ते tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative masculine plural noun
युक्त √yuj — to yoke, join, engage in (verbal root) · compound participle (compound member) · also at 1.14, 2.28, 2.39, 2.50, 2.51, 2.61 +37
चेतसः cetas — consciousness, mind, awareness · nominative masculine plural noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01Why does Kṛṣṇa introduce adhibhūta/adhidaiva/adhiyajña in the very last verse of Chapter 7 rather than explaining them there — and what does that structural deferral tell us about how the Gītā uses chapter-boundaries as teaching devices?
02All six schools agree that knowledge persists at prayāṇa-kāle (moment of death) for the yukta-cetasa — but they disagree sharply on WHY: is it samādhi-strength (Advaita), accumulated saṃskāra (Madhusūdana), grace alone (Dvaita), or the irreversible nature of bhakti-āsakti (Śrīdhara)? What is actually doing the work at death?

show all 7

03Rāmānuja insists adhiyajña observance is unavoidable for all three classes of aspirants (artha-svābhāvyāt) — does this mean ritual practice is structurally non-negotiable even for the highest jñānin, and if so, what becomes of the jñāna-karma debate?
04Śrīdhara reads the verse as a guarantee against yoga-bhraṃśa — but the Gītā already addressed yoga-bhraṃśa in Chapter 6 (6.37–45). Is 7.30 a doctrinal repetition, a refinement, or does it add a new category of protection specific to those who hold the integral three-term knowledge?
05Vallabha uniquely identifies 'ye' here as a NEW class of jijñāsus not previously named — how does the commentarial tradition handle the question of whether Chapters 7–12 address the same or progressively different adhikāris?
06Madhusūdana's synthesis operates on two adhikāri levels simultaneously (uttama via mukhya-vṛtti, madhyama via lakṣaṇā) — is this a hermeneutical strength (the verse is genuinely polysemous) or a doctrinal convenience that papers over tension between jñāna and bhakti paths?
07The triad adhibhūta/adhidaiva/adhiyajña is introduced here but defined only in Chapter 8 — to what degree does understanding of 7.30 depend on reading Chapter 8 first, and what does that dependency say about the Gītā's compositional strategy?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before a high-stakes transition — job change, surgery, bereavement — practice tracing every external role (adhibhūta layer), every inner guidance or intuition (adhidaiva layer), and every action you are performing (adhiyajña layer) back to the single awareness underlying all three. The point is not to manage the transition better but to notice that the one who would be disrupted is itself a construction; the samāhita-citta (gathered mind) Śaṅkara describes is accessible right now, not only at death.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Rāmānuja's insistence that nitya-naimittika duties (daily and occasion-based rites) are non-negotiable even for the highest aspirant translates practically into this: do not skip the small ritual frames of daily life — morning practice, meal-time acknowledgment, periodic review — on the grounds that you are 'beyond them.' These are the very grooves (saṃskāra) that will carry you at the moment when self-directed effort fails. Kainkarya (service) to Bhagavān in the body is not preliminary; it is the form love takes in the world.

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Dvaita

When facing a decision where your own reasoning reaches its limit, the Dvaita application of this verse is to stop reasoning and simply acknowledge Hari as the inner regulator of the domain you are in (adhibhūta — the physical facts; adhidaiva — the forces you cannot control; adhiyajña — your own action-capacity). Surrender here is not passive resignation but a clear-eyed recognition that the jīva's knowledge is always dependent on a grace it did not generate. Act fully, attribute zero.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's 'yuktacetasaḥ as sign of grace received' reorients everyday spiritual effort: do not evaluate your practice by how much concentration you have manufactured. Instead, watch for moments of spontaneous integration — when body, sense, and intention align effortlessly in an act of service or beauty. Vallabha's framework names these as evidence of prasāda already working, not milestones to achieve. Inquiry (jijñāsā) itself, sustained without agenda, is the puṣṭi-path in daily life.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's guarantee against yoga-bhraṃśa is immediately practical for anyone whose devotional practice is inconsistent: the verse promises that mayi āsakta-manaḥ (a mind attached to the Lord) will not collapse even under the extremest pressure. The application is to keep re-attaching the mind not by force of will but by keeping the object of devotion concretely present — a name, an image, a specific quality of Kṛṣṇa you genuinely love. Consistency at low intensity beats heroic effort at high intensity that cannot be sustained to the moment of crisis.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's saṃskāra-pāṭava (sharpness of devotional impressions) points to a practical discipline: every deliberate act of remembrance, however brief, deposits a trace that compounds over time — the mind builds a groove so deep that at prayāṇa-kāle it falls into that groove automatically, by mat-kṛpayā (His grace), not by effortful concentration. In daily terms: the quality and intentionality of each individual moment of practice matters more than its duration. Depth over breadth; genuine over performed.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 7, Verse 30: Krishna to Arjuna — Jñāna-Vijñāna-Yoga