Bhagavad Gita 8.7
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 7 of 28
तस्माद्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च | मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयम् ||७||
tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca | mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣyasy asaṃśayam || 7 ||
Therefore remember Me at all times and fight — mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will come to Me without doubt.
Word by word (3)
- tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara yudhya ca
- — Therefore, at all times, remember Me; and fight · tasmāt = therefore (from tad = that + ablative suffix — tasmāt = from that, therefore; this is the crucial inference: V6's principle demands V7's practice). sarveṣu kāleṣu = at all times (sarva = all; kāla = time; sarveṣu kāleṣu = in all times, at every moment — locative plural, indicating continuous temporal scope). mām = Me (objective case — not 'God in general' but specifically Krishna). anusmara = remember continually (anu = after, along, following — anusmara = remember continuously, keep remembering — stronger than smara alone; suggests ongoing continuous remembrance, not a single act). yudhya = fight (second person singular imperative from √yudh = to fight — 'fight!' — Arjuna's duty as a warrior is not suspended but integrated with the practice of remembrance). ca = and (connecting anusmara and yudhya — remember AND fight; the two are not alternatives but simultaneous). The teaching: the tasmāt (therefore) is the structural key — V6 showed that constant bhāva shapes the departure; V7's logical conclusion is: make Krishna the constant bhāva, while performing one's duty (yudhya).
- mayy arpita-mano-buddhiḥ mām evaiṣyasi asaṃśayam
- — With mind and intellect surrendered to Me — you will come to Me alone, without doubt · mayy = in Me (mayi = locative of aham — 'in Me', the ground and recipient). arpita = surrendered, placed (from √ṛ = to place, dedicate — arpita = placed in, dedicated to, offered to). mano-buddhiḥ = mind and intellect (manas = the lower-processing, emotional, willing mind; buddhi = the higher discriminating intellect — together they cover the full cognitive apparatus). So: mayy arpita-mano-buddhiḥ = one whose mind (manas) and intellect (buddhi) are placed/surrendered into Me. mām eva = Me alone (emphatic — the same 'alone' as V5's mām eva smaran). eṣyasi = you will come (future tense, second person singular from √i = to go — 'you will come to'). asaṃśayam = without doubt (a = not; saṃśaya = doubt — 'certainly, without any doubt'). The assurance echoes V5's 'nāsty atra saṃśayaḥ' — both verses close with the same absolute certainty. V7 is the practical bridge: do this (mām anusmara + yudhya) and the result (mām evaiṣyasi) is guaranteed (asaṃśayam).
- The synthesis of mām anusmara and yudhya — contemplation and action as one
- — Remember Me AND fight — not alternately, but simultaneously; this is karma yoga's highest formulation · V7's command is syntactically simple but philosophically radical: mām anusmara yudhya ca — 'remember Me and fight.' The 'and' (ca) is the most important word in the verse. It is not 'remember Me instead of fighting' (renunciation) nor 'fight as your sole duty and remember Me sometimes' (distracted action). It is both simultaneously — the integration that is the entire Gita's teaching compressed into two words. This is the karma yoga teaching from Ch.3-4 arriving at its fullest expression: act with complete engagement (yudhya — fight!) while holding the Divine as the constant inner orientation (mām anusmara). The warrior who fights AND remembers Krishna simultaneously embodies V6's sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ: being constantly formed by Krishna while fully engaged in action. This integration — action with inner remembrance — is the Gita's distinctive contribution to spiritual life.
Therefore, remember Me at all times, and fight. With your mind and reason given over to Me, you shall surely come to Me.
A modern analogy
A skilled surgeon performing a complex operation has simultaneously: complete technical focus on the procedure (action done with full competence) AND a quality of inner steadiness and presence that is not disturbed by external pressures (inner remembrance). The two do not conflict — the inner steadiness actually enhances the outer performance. This verse's 'remember Me and fight' is this integration.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT mean that Arjuna should think about Krishna instead of focusing on fighting. The 'and' in 'remember Me and fight' is simultaneous, not alternating. The teaching is the integration of inner remembrance with outer action. This is the Gita's distinctive contribution: not withdrawal from action but action done with inner God-remembrance.
Take with you
- The word tasmāt (therefore) makes the practice instruction a logical conclusion, not an arbitrary command. Once you accept the previous verse's principle — that you become what you repeatedly contemplate — this verse is the obvious next step: choose what to contemplate. It gives the specific prescription: choose Me (the Divine) as your constant contemplation.
- The phrase sarveṣu kāleṣu (at ALL times) is the scope of the practice. Not 'in meditation time' or 'in prayer time' but at all times — while working, while talking, while resting. This is the practice of constant remembrance — a devotional practice found across traditions (the Jesus Prayer in Christian hesychasm; dhikr in Sufism; japa in Hinduism). This verse is the Gita's formulation of this universal practice.
- This verse integrates spiritual practice and worldly duty: fight AND remember. This resolves the false dichotomy that spiritual life requires withdrawal from the world. The Gita's path is engagement with full inner remembrance — the world is the context for practice, not its obstacle.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Therefore, at all times, constantly remember Me, and fight. With mind and intellect absorbed in Me, thou shalt doubtless come to Me. [4]
Therefore at all times remember me, and fight. With mind and intellect set on me, without doubt thou shalt come to me. [5]
Therefore, O Arjuna, think of me at all times and fight. If thy mind and thy understanding be fixed on me, thou shalt without doubt come to me. [6]
Have Me, then, in thy heart always! and fight! Thou too, when heart and mind are fixed on Me, Shalt surely come to Me! [7]
Therefore, at all times remember me, and engage in battle. Fixing your mind and understanding on me, you will come to me, there is no doubt. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Whatever state of being one remembers at death — to that state one attains, shaped by one's constant thought.
Surrender all action to Me, mind on the Self, free from hope and possessiveness — then fight, free from fever.
Of all yogis, the one whose inner self is merged in Me, worshipping with śraddhā — that one I hold to be most united.
Destroyed is my delusion, memory restored by Your grace — I stand firm, free of doubt, and will do Your word.
Even the wise are confused about action vs. inaction. I will explain — knowing this frees you from all wrong.
Knowledge, action, and agent are each three-fold by guṇa-distinction — as declared in the guṇa-science. Hear them.
Verse 7 of 28 · back to Chapter 8