Bhagavad Gita 7.14
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 14 of 30
दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया | मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते ||१४||
daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā | mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṃ taranti te || 14 ||
This divine māyā of Mine, made of the guṇas, is hard to cross — but those who take refuge in Me alone do cross it.
Word by word (3)
- daivī hi eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā
- — verily, this divine māyā of Mine, made of the guṇas, is difficult to cross · daivī = divine, belonging to the Divine (from deva = god; daivī = divine, divine-natured — not dark or malevolent but the Divine's own creative power). hi = verily, indeed (emphatic). eṣā = this (referring to the māyā just described through its effects in V13). guṇamayī = made of the guṇas (guṇa + mayī = pervaded by the guṇas — the same guṇamayaiḥ bhāvaiḥ of V13). mama = Mine (genitive of mad — My māyā, belonging to Me). māyā = the creative power, the illusive force (from √māy = to measure, to create; māyā = the measuring/creating power that produces the phenomenal world; the word has strong connotations of creative magic, of things appearing as other than they are). duratyayā = difficult to cross over, hard to transcend (dur = difficult; atyaya = crossing over, transcending — from ati + √i = to go beyond; duratyayā = the one who is hard to get beyond).
- mām eva ye prapadyante — māyām etāṃ taranti te
- — those who take refuge in Me alone — they cross over this māyā · mām = Me (accusative). eva = alone, exclusively (emphatic — not partially, not alongside other refuges). ye = who (relative pronoun — those who). prapadyante = take refuge, surrender completely (pra + √pad = to throw oneself forward into, to fall toward; prapatti = complete surrender/refuge — a strong devotional act: the complete offering of the self to the Divine). māyām etāṃ = this māyā (accusative, object of taranti). taranti = they cross over (from √tṛ — to cross water, to transcend; tārayati = to cause to cross — the same root as the name Arjuna's chariot horse Tāra). te = they (the ones who take refuge). The remedy: mām eva — Me alone — prapadyante (take refuge completely). The result: they cross this māyā (māyām taranti). The exclusivity of 'mām eva' (Me alone) is significant: partial refuge, refuge alongside other final commitments, does not accomplish the crossing. The refuge must be complete.
- daivī māyā / duratyayā / prapatti (the three-part remedy teaching)
- — māyā is divine and hard — but prapatti (complete refuge) is the one means that crosses it · V14 accomplishes three things simultaneously: (1) It validates the difficulty — māyā IS duratyayā (hard to cross). This prevents false confidence ('just think positive thoughts and māyā dissolves'). (2) It clarifies the mechanism — māyā is guṇamayī (made of guṇas) — confirming that V13's guṇa-delusion and V14's māyā are the same thing viewed from different angles. (3) It gives the one remedy — mām eva prapadyante (take refuge in Me alone). The completeness of 'mām eva' (Me alone) is the entire teaching of the bhakti path in three words: surrender completely to the Divine — not as a technique but as a total orientation of the self. This is the pivot of Ch.7: from V1's three conditions through V2-13's jñāna-vijñāna teaching, to V14's direct remedy: prapatti.
This divine māyā of Mine, made of the qualities of nature, is hard to cross. But those who take refuge in Me alone pass beyond it.
A modern analogy
The pull of established cognitive habits is genuinely hard to overcome — neuroscience confirms that deep grooves of habitual thought and perception require significant, sustained effort to rewire. The verse's 'duratyayā' is honest about this difficulty. The remedy ('mām eva prapadyante') is the equivalent of complete immersion in a new orientation — not dabbling with meditation occasionally, but genuine, total reorientation of the self toward the Divine.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT say māyā is bad or unreal. It is daivī (divine) — the Divine's own creative expression. The difficulty is not evil to be destroyed but the natural consequence of the guṇa-absorption that produces the world's delusion. The crossing is not escape from the world but seeing through the apparent independence of the guṇa-field to the Divine ground that is its source.
Take with you
- This is the most important verse in Chapter 7's practical teaching: it gives the one universal remedy for the universal condition of guṇa-born delusion. Mām eva prapadyante — take refuge in Me alone. Everything else in the chapter (the opening call to take refuge, the promise of complete knowledge, the image of all things strung on Me like gems on a thread, the recognitions of the Divine as the taste in water and as the source of all states) is preparation for this.
- The 'mām eva' (Me alone) qualifier is demanding but clarifying: partial refuge — pursuing the Divine alongside an equal commitment to some worldly attachment — does not produce the crossing. The refuge must be the organizing priority. This is not about abandoning life but about making the Divine the central orientation of life.
- The verse's 'daivī' (divine) qualifier for māyā: māyā is not an enemy or a mistake — it is the Divine's own creative power that produces the phenomenal world. This prevents both nihilism (the world is evil/unreal) and naive realism (the world is all there is). The world is divine expression; it is also veiling. Both are true.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Verily, this divine māyā of Mine, made of the guṇas, is difficult to cross. Those who take refuge in Me alone — they cross this māyā. [1]
Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, constituted of the Gunas, is difficult to cross over; those who devote themselves to Me alone, cross over this illusion. [4]
Verily, this divine Illusion of Mine, made of the gunas, is difficult to transcend. Only those who devote themselves to Me cross over this Illusion. [5]
For this is the divine mystery of my creative power, that I appear to be affected by the qualities; and it is most difficult to pass beyond it. Those who devote themselves to me alone pass beyond it. [6]
Yea! for this My magic that makes the seen world hard to see, and hard to shun. Howbeit, they who put their trust in Me pass Maya, not they who trust the Shows. [7]
For this divine illusion of mine, made up of the qualities, is difficult to penetrate. Those only who resort to me cross beyond this illusion. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Deluded by the three guṇa-constituted states, all this world does not recognize Me — beyond them, imperishable.
Abandon all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone — I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
The mahātmās of divine nature worship Me with undivided mind, knowing Me as the immutable origin of all beings.
With mind attached, practising yoga, taking refuge in Me — hear how you shall know Me fully, without doubt.
The Lord dwells in the heart of all beings — whirling all, as if mounted on a machine, by His māyā.
The evildoer, the deluded, the lowest of men, those whose knowledge māyā has stolen — these do not take refuge in Me.
Verse 14 of 30 · back to Chapter 7