BG 7.13
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Devanagari
त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभि: सर्वमिदं जगत् ।
मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्य: परमव्ययम् ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair
ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti
mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
Synonyms
tribhiḥ
—
three
;
guṇa-mayaiḥ
—
consisting of the guṇas
;
bhāvaiḥ
—
by the states of being
;
ebhiḥ
—
all these
;
sarvam
—
whole
;
idam
—
this
;
jagat
—
universe
;
mohitam
—
deluded
;
na abhijānāti
—
does not know
;
mām
—
Me
;
ebhyaḥ
—
above these
;
param
—
the Supreme
;
avyayam
—
inexhaustible.
Translation
Deluded by the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inexhaustible.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
13. The whole world, bewildered by the objects and persons made of three guṇas, does not know Me, the unchanging, who am above all of those things.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
13. The whole world, bewildered by the transformations of three guṇas, does not know Me, possessed of unchanging spiritual qualities, who am untouched by all of the products of the guṇas.
Purport
The whole world is enchanted by the three modes of material nature. Those who are bewildered by these three modes cannot understand that transcendental to this material nature is the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa.
Every living entity under the influence of material nature has a particular type of body and a particular type of psychological and biological activities accordingly. There are four classes of men functioning in the three material modes of nature. Those who are purely in the mode of goodness are called brāhmaṇas. Those who are purely in the mode of passion are called kṣatriyas. Those who are in the modes of both passion and ignorance are called vaiśyas. Those who are completely in ignorance are called śūdras. And those who are less than that are animals or animal life. However, these designations are not permanent. I may be either a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya or whatever – in any case, this life is temporary. But although life is temporary and we do not know what we are going to be in the next life, by the spell of this illusory energy we consider ourselves in terms of this bodily conception of life, and we thus think that we are American, Indian, Russian, or brāhmaṇa, Hindu, Muslim, etc. And if we become entangled with the modes of material nature, then we forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is behind all these modes. So Lord Kṛṣṇa says that living entities deluded by these three modes of nature do not understand that behind the material background is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
There are many different kinds of living entities – human beings, demigods, animals, etc. – and each and every one of them is under the influence of material nature, and all of them have forgotten the transcendent Personality of Godhead. Those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance, and even those who are in the mode of goodness, cannot go beyond the impersonal Brahman conception of the Absolute Truth. They are bewildered before the Supreme Lord in His personal feature, which possesses all beauty, opulence, knowledge, strength, fame and renunciation. When even those who are in goodness cannot understand, what hope is there for those in passion and ignorance? Kṛṣṇa consciousness is transcendental to all these three modes of material nature, and those who are truly established in Kṛṣṇa consciousness are actually liberated.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“Then if You are all things, why do people not know You, the Supreme Lord?”
All the jīvas born in the universe (sarvam idaṁ jagat), being bewildered by the states such as sense and mind control in the mood of goodness, jubilation in the mode of passion, and lamentation in the mode of ignorance, stemming from the nature of the guṇas, do not know Me, who am superior to them (param) and without change (avyayam), since I am beyond the guṇas.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Having shown His svarūpa which is the worthy object of meditation, distinct from His two energies (inferior and superior prakṛti), the Lord in three verses explains the cause of ignorance of His svarūpa—attachment to the inferior energy.
All the jīvas of this universe, taking up forms of deva, asura, human and so forth (saravam idam jagat), have lost their power of discrimination (mohitam) by the states of existence (bhavaiḥ) made of sattva, rajas and tamas, the effects of My material gunās previously explained (ebhiḥ tribhiḥ guṇa mayaiḥ); by these states in which the jīvas are subject to birth (and body) and to transformation at every moment; by these states where the jīvas are situated in various bodies, senses and sense objects in accordance with their karmas. They are envious of Me, Kṛṣṇa, possessed of unfailing nature, not liable to fall into the state experience of the jīvas (avyayam); they are envious of Me, the lord of all beings, full of condensed knowledge and bliss, an ocean of infinite auspicious qualities, who am untouched (param) by all the jīvas in the guṇas (ebhyaḥ).
Surrender Unto Me
Rather than thinking that Krsna is the source of everything, they think that He is within the modes. This is caused by the three modes of material nature.
How to know and see Krsna? And who does know Krsna?