Bhagavad Gita 7.13
Spoken by Krishna ☆ Key verse · Verse 13 of 30
त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभिः सर्वमिदं जगत् | मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्यः परमव्ययम् ||१३||
tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṃ jagat | mohitaṃ nābhijānāti māmebhyaḥ param avyayam || 13 ||
Deluded by the three guṇa-constituted states, all this world does not recognize Me — beyond them, imperishable.
Word by word (3)
- tribhiḥ guṇamayaiḥ bhāvaiḥ ebhiḥ sarvam idaṃ jagat mohitam
- — deluded by these three guṇa-constituted states, all this world · tribhiḥ = by three (instrumental). guṇamayaiḥ = made of guṇas, constituted by guṇas (guṇa = the three qualities; maya = made of, pervaded by). bhāvaiḥ = by states/modes (instrumental plural of bhāva). ebhiḥ = by these (the sāttvic, rājasic, tāmasic states of V12). sarvam idam jagat = all this world (sarva = all; idam = this; jagat = the world). mohitam = deluded, bewildered (past participle of √muh — to be confused, to be enchanted, to lose clarity — the root of moha/delusion, māyā's effect on consciousness). The state of the world: all of it (sarvam) is mohita (deluded/bewildered) by the three guṇa-constituted modes of existence. This is not a moral judgment — it is a phenomenological description: the guṇas create a compelling field of experience that absorbs consciousness and prevents it from seeing what is beyond them.
- na abhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
- — does not recognize Me, who am beyond these and imperishable · na = not. abhijānāti = does not recognize, does not directly know (abhi + √jñā = to fully/directly know — a stronger compound than the simple jñā; the 'abhi' prefix indicates complete, direct recognition). mām = Me. ebhyaḥ = than/beyond these (ablative — 'beyond these three guṇas'). param = beyond, transcendent (the same para of V5's parā-prakṛti). avyayam = imperishable, immutable (a-vyaya = without diminishing, without spending down — eternal and changeless). The consequence of moha: the world deluded by the guṇas does not recognize (na abhijānāti) Krishna who IS beyond them (ebhyaḥ param) and imperishable (avyayam). The very field that comes from Krishna (V12's mattaḥ eva) creates the cognitive obstruction that prevents recognition of Krishna. This is the paradox of māyā: the Divine's own creative expression veils the Divine.
- moha (delusion) — the mechanism by which guṇa-states veil the Divine
- — the guṇas enchant consciousness so completely that the ground (the Divine) becomes invisible — the paradox of māyā · Moha (from √muh = to be confused, enchanted, bewildered) is the direct consequence of guṇa-saturation: when consciousness is fully absorbed in the drama of sāttvic, rājasic, and tāmasic experience — their pleasures, conflicts, drives, and resolutions — it loses sight of the ground in which all this drama occurs. The gems (V7) are so compelling that the thread becomes invisible. This is not stupidity — it is the structural consequence of embodied existence in a guṇa-saturated world. V13 describes the default human condition: absorbed in guṇa-states, missing the ground. V14 gives the remedy; V15 describes those for whom the remedy is unavailable; V16+ describes those who have found it.
Deluded by these three states born of the qualities of nature, this whole world fails to know Me, who am beyond them and imperishable.
A modern analogy
Someone so deeply absorbed in a movie that they forget they are in a cinema — the characters, plot, and emotions of the film completely occupy their attention, and the fact that they are sitting in a room watching projected light on a screen completely escapes their notice. The cinema (the Divine ground) is present throughout the film; the absorption in the film (moha) is what prevents its recognition. The world this verse describes is in exactly this state — absorbed in the film of guṇa-experience.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT say the world is stupid or condemned. Moha (delusion) is not a moral failure but a structural condition of guṇa-saturated existence — the default state that the next teaching's remedy addresses. This is a diagnosis, not a condemnation.
Take with you
- This verse diagnoses the human default: guṇa-absorption produces moha, which blocks recognition of the Divine ground. This is the Gita's answer to 'why doesn't everyone see the Divine?' Not because the Divine is absent, but because the guṇa-field is compelling and veiling.
- This verse and the next read together: this one is the problem (moha from guṇas); the next is the solution (take refuge in Me, cross māyā). The diagnosis leads directly to the remedy.
- 'Beyond them, imperishable' (ebhyaḥ param avyayam) — the Divine that is veiled by moha is not a distant or rare reality; it is the ground always present, but overlooked because of guṇa-absorption. Liberation is not reaching a new place but seeing clearly what was always here.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Deluded by these three guṇa-constituted states, all this world does not recognize Me, who am beyond them and imperishable. [1]
Deluded by these states, the modifications of the three Gunas of Prakriti, all this world does not know Me who is beyond them, and immutable. [4]
Deluded by these three-fold states of nature, composed of the gunas, the world knoweth Me not who am beyond them and immutable. [5]
All this world, deluded by these three-fold qualities of nature, has no knowledge of me who am above them and imperishable. [6]
All this visible world is led astray, for that it knows Me not, who am beyond these changes, and who change not; all the world is blind with the bewilderment of the Qualities. [7]
All this world, deluded by these three guṇa-produced states, knows not Me, who am beyond them and immutable. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
All sāttvic, rājasic, and tāmasic states proceed from Me — yet I am not in them; they are in Me.
This divine māyā of Mine, made of the guṇas, is hard to cross — but those who take refuge in Me alone do cross it.
Knowing this you will not fall into delusion again — you will see all beings in the Self, and thus in Me.
Veiled by yoga-māyā, I am not manifest to all — this deluded world does not recognize Me, the Unborn, the Imperishable.
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
The fruit of sattvic action is pure; the fruit of rajas is pain; the fruit of tamas is ignorance.
Verse 13 of 30 · back to Chapter 7