A core teaching · devotional in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“The way beyond the veil is not force, but refuge.”
My divine illusion, made of the three qualities, is hard to cross. Only those who take refuge in Me go beyond it.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallydivine · indeed · this · made of the three qualities · my · illusion · hard to cross · Me · alone · those who · take refuge · this illusion · this · cross beyond · they
The forces that shape ordinary life are hard to overcome on your own. Surrendering to Krishna is what carries a person beyond them.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Jnana Vijnana Yoga" (Knowledge and Wisdom).
Verse 14 sits in Chapter 7 of the Bhagavad Gita — Jnana Vijnana Yoga, "Knowledge and Wisdom". The chapter has 30 verses in total.
You keep trying to think your way out of the same loop at 1:40 a.m., replaying the conversation, the mistake, the fear. The verse says the exit is not more strain, but a deeper refuge.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts the mind from self-reliance against confusion to surrender as the way through confusion.
What this verse means
The forces that shape ordinary life are hard to overcome on your own. Surrendering to Krishna is what carries a person beyond them.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is still frozen, and Krishna is explaining why ordinary effort cannot by itself break the hold of the three qualities. This verse names the obstacle and the way through it: surrender.
Why this verse still matters
You keep trying to think your way out of the same loop at 1:40 a.m., replaying the conversation, the mistake, the fear. The verse says the exit is not more strain, but a deeper refuge.
“You do not have to outmuscle confusion. There is relief in letting guidance do what force cannot.”
Explore related themes: bhakti (69 verses), sharanagati (13 verses)