General

Devotional service to the Supreme Lord and the worship of a demigod cannot be on the same platform, because worship of a demigod is material and devotional service to the Supreme Lord is completely spiritual. For the living entity who desires to return to Godhead, material desires are impediments. A pure devotee of the Lord is therefore not awarded the material benefits desired by less intelligent living entities, who therefore prefer to worship demigods of the material world rather than engage in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord.

The results obtained by the foolish, who worship the devas, are temporary. Kṛṣṇa gives them only temporary results not because He is unjust. Those who worship the devatās attain them as it is logical that a person attains what he worships. Thus if the devatās are temporary, how could their devotees be permanent, and thus the results obtained are temporary. The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, is however eternal, and thus His devotees are eternal. Their bhakti and the results of their bhakti are all eternal. The devotees of the Lord attain His eternal, supreme planet.

If the demigods are parts of the body of the Lord, why do their worshipers get different results than by worshiping the Supreme Lord? Those who have scant intelligence consider only the particular devatā, not understanding that the devatā is part of the Lord’s body. They do not know that these demigods are different parts of the universal body of the Supreme Lord, and in their ignorance they believe that each and every demigod is a separate God and a competitor of the Supreme Lord. Thus they attain only scant, temporary results. Those who worship the devatā with the understanding that the devatā is part of the Lord’s body obtain eternal results. This is because the worshipers of devatās go to the devatās, who have limited enjoyment and life span. But the devotees of Kṛṣṇa attain Him, who is endowed with eternal, infinite form, qualities and powers.

If the Lord has an eternal form and activities, why cannot He be seen by everyone at all times? The Lord is never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. He is covered by His internal potency and thus the foolish do not know Him, who is unborn and infallible. The Lord is always present with His associates, qualities and pastimes in some universe but just like the sun He is not visible to all, being covered by yogamāyā. If Mount Meru were present in the middle of the effulgent zodiac, then the sun would not be visible within the zodiac. In the same way, within Kṛṣṇa’s abodes, yogamāyā is always present. Thus Kṛṣṇa is not always visible to even those people who are presently dwelling in His abodes of Mathurā and Dvārakā. And the foolish people do not understand His Śyāmasundara form. Rejecting Him, the ocean of auspicious qualities, they worship impersonal Brahman.

Out of mercy, the Lord is visible only to His devotees. To the non-devotees, He is covered by māyā engaged in yoga – that energy by which bewilderment of the materialists takes place. The yoga māyā also acts as yoga in making the impossible possible in relation to the Lord’s acintya powers. Thus the word yoga-māyā can be used to indicate the material māyā or the spiritual māyā according to the context. The unintelligent do not know the Lord, who is without change: His form, powers, omniscience and other qualities are unchanging in their natures. When Kṛṣṇa was present there were only a few people who could understand Him to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the assembly of Kurus, when Śiśupāla spoke against Kṛṣṇa's being elected president of the assembly, Bhīṣma supported Him and proclaimed Him to be the Supreme God. Similarly, the Pāṇḍavas and a few others knew that He was the Supreme, but not everyone. He was not revealed to the nondevotees.

Is the Lord in ignorance because He is covered by māyā? No, the Lord is not corrupted by māyā, who is subservient to Him, who arises from His powers, and who serves Him from a distance. Therefore Kṛṣṇa knows all things in the past, present and future, but no one knows Him. Even among millions of jñānīs, one who knows Kṛṣṇa is very rare. Even Lord Śiva, the most omniscient person cannot know the Lord completely because the Lord is covered by either māyā or yogamāyā according to the qualification of the person. If Kṛṣṇa, the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, were māyā, material, as the impersonalists consider Him to be, then like the living entity He would change His body and forget everything about His past life. Anyone with a material body cannot remember his past life, nor can he foretell his future life, nor can he predict the outcome of his present life; therefore he cannot know what is happening in past, present and future. Unless one is liberated from material contamination, he cannot know past, present and future.

Previously three types of devotees with desires (karma-miśra-bhaktas) - the distressed, the curious and the desirer of wealth - surrendering to Kṛṣṇa and becoming successful were described The worshippers of devatās (also sakāma) fall down. The fourth kind strives for freedom from birth and death, and takes refuge in the Lord. Such a person knows Brahman, the jīva, who is present as the controller of the body, impressions which stick to the jīva, and the force of karma upon the jīva. Desiring only freedom from birth and death, they worship the Lord’s Deity, by offering respects and other actions to Him. They know about the impressions which cause the jīva to act and the results of such actions (karma). By worshipping the Lord’s form they realize the objects of realization (Brahman, adhyātma, and karma) and attain liberation, but do not bring the Lord under control or become objects of His affection. Only persons who perform activities in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are actually entitled to be called Brahman, because they are actually endeavoring to reach the Kṛṣṇa planet. Such persons have no misgivings about Kṛṣṇa, and thus they are factually Brahman.

Six types of devotees were enumerated in this chapter – kevala bhakta (verse 1), three sakāma bhaktas (verse 16), jñāna-miśra-bhakta (verse 16) and mokṣa-kāma-bhakta (verse 29). These devotees, who know the truth about the Lord, cross over māyā. Many subjects have been discussed in this chapter: the man in distress, the inquisitive man, the man in want of material necessities, knowledge of Brahman, knowledge of Paramātmā, liberation from birth, death and diseases, and worship of the Supreme Lord. However, he who is actually elevated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness does not care for the different processes. He simply directly engages himself in activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thereby factually attains his constitutional position as an eternal servitor of Lord Kṛṣṇa. In such a situation he takes pleasure in hearing and glorifying the Supreme Lord in pure devotional service. He is convinced that by his doing so, all his objectives will be fulfilled. This determined faith is called dṛḍha-vrata, and it is the beginning of bhakti-yoga, or transcendental loving service. That is the verdict of all scriptures. This Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā is the substance of that conviction. The six items – Brahman, adhyātma, karma, adhibhūta, adhidaiva and adhiyajña) – will be explained in the next chapter by Kṛṣṇa.

Thus ends Chapter 7 of Bhagavad gita culled from 'Bhagavad gita As it is' by Srila Prabhupada, 'As they surrender' by Bhurijana Prabhu, 'Sarartha Varsini' by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and 'Gita Bhusana' by Baladeva Vidyabhusana.