Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 7: Knowledge and Realization

Bhagavad Gita 7.18

udārāḥ sarva evaite jñānī tvātmaiva me matam | āsthitaḥ sa hi yuktātmā māmevānuttamāṃ gatim ||

All of these are noble, but the wise one I regard as my very self. With a disciplined self, that person is established in me alone as the highest goal.

Modern context

First Krishna is careful: all four are noble. No one who turns toward the divine for any reason is dismissed. Then he says something remarkable about the wise: I consider them my very self. Love at its height dissolves the distance between lover and loved. The wise devotee is not just near the divine; they share its nature. Yet the verse opens with generosity, and that matters. It honours every stage of the path before praising the summit.