Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 18

Gita 7.18

उदाराः, सर्वे, एव, एते, ज्ञानी, तु, आत्मा, एव, मे, मतम्,
आस्थितः, सः, हि, युक्तात्मा, माम्, एव, अनुत्तमाम्, गतिम्।।18।।

Gita 7.18

UdaaraH, sarve, ev, ete, gyaani, tu, aatma, ev, me, matam’,
AasthitH, saH, hi, yuktaatma, mam’, ev, anuttamaam’, gatim’ ||18||

Translation: (Hi) because (me) my (matam’) in opinion (ete) these (sarve, ev) all of (gyaani) knowledgeable/learned (aatma) souls (udaraH) are noble (tu) but (saH) he (mam’) in me (ev) only (yuktaatma) engrossed soul (anuttamaam’) my very bad (gatim’) salvation (ev) only (aasthitH) are dependent. (18)

Gita 7.18: Because in my opinion all these learned souls are noble, but that soul engrossed only in me is dependent only on my very bad salvation.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 18 - Meaning

The meaning of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 16 to 18 is that the speaker of Bhagavad Gita says that even my i.e. Brahm’s worship is done by four types of devotees;

1. Aart: who perform rites only by Ved mantras for warding off crisis;
2. Artharthi: who performs rites only by Ved mantras to seek wealth;
3. Jigyasu: who with the desire of attaining knowledge, accumulates knowledge by studying the Vedas, and then becoming a speaker wastes away his life;
4. Gyani: a worshipper who read the Vedas and found that one gets a human life only to attain God and will only become successful by the bhakti of one Supreme God. Because of not finding a Tatvdarshi Saint, who is mentioned in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 34, considering Brahm only as the Supreme God, he kept doing Kaal (Brahm)-worship which is said to be very bad i.e. even Brahm-worship is inferior.

Question: - People say that you have written incorrect meaning in the translation of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 18. You have written the meaning of “Anuttamaam’” as “Ashreshth” / “Bad / Inferior”; whereas in compound, the meaning of ‘Anuttam’ is ‘Ati Uttam’ / ‘very good’. Compared to whom there is no one better, regarding him/it, in compound the meaning of ‘Anuttam’ is ‘Ati Uttam’. The other translators of Bhagavad Gita have written the correct meaning. They have written the meaning of ‘anuttam’ as ‘ati uttam’ / ‘very good’.

Answer: - Accepting this statement of yours to be true, I am requesting you that the giver of the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita is telling about his worship in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 16 to 18.

If in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 18 he is describing his worship as “Anuttam”, whose meaning according to your compound is this that there is no better salvation than the salvation of the giver of the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita then consider the following statements. 

• The giver of the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita, in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 62 and Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Verse 4, is himself telling Arjun to go in the refuge of some other God. He says that by only His (the other God's) grace supreme peace and the eternal place, the ever-lasting place of salvation i.e. Satyalok will be attained. About himself also, he has said that I am also in His refuge only. One should worship that Supreme/Complete God alone, and he has stated that one should attain the supreme state (Satyalok) of that Supreme God. Having gone where, worshippers never return to this world i.e. their birth and death ends forever.
• In Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 verse 46, 61-62, 64, 66; Chapter 15 Verse 4, 16-17; Chapter 13 Verse 12 to 17, 22 to 24, 27-28, 30-31, 34; Chapter 5 Verse 6 to 10, 13 to 21 and 24-25-26; Chapter 6 Verse 7, 19, 20, 25, 26-27; Chapter 4 Verse 31-32; Chapter 8 Verse 3, 8 to 10, 17 to 22; Chapter 7 Verse 19 to 29; Chapter 14 Verse 19 etc-etc Verses the speaker of Gita has mentioned about some other God than himself. It has been proved from this that there is some other God superior i.e. better than the knowledge giver of Bhagavad Gita.
• Like, in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 Verse 17, the giver of the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita has stated that “Uttam PurushH tu anyaH”, which means that the Supreme God is indeed someone else. Therefore the salvation of i.e. salvation obtained from that Supreme God i.e. Superior most God will also be superior most. This is also proved from this that the salvation of that Supreme God i.e. Complete God is superior to the salvation of the giver of the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita. Therefore the salvation of the knowledge giver of Bhagavad Gita is not superior most. Superior most means compared to which there is nothing more superior; so this adjective has also been proved wrong for the salvation of the knowledge giver of Bhagavad Gita. Because if there is some other God superior to the knowledge giver of Bhagavad Gita, then His salvation is also superior to that of the knowledge giver of Bhagavad Gita.

It has thus been proved that in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 18, the meaning of “anuttam” is justified to be “inferior/bad” i.e. is correct. You and the other translators of Bhagavad Gita have written incorrect meaning, who have said and written the meaning of “anuttam” as “very good/superior most”.

Bhagavad Gita 7.18 by Gita Press Gorakhpur (Hindi) (Incorrect)

Commentary: In Gita Chapter 7 Verse 18, the word Anuttam has been translated as "Ati uttam" i.e. 'the best' whereas the meaning of Anuttam is "the worst" or useless or inferior. This translation by Gita Press Gorakhpur is incorrect and has given an opposite meaning to the whole verse. 

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 18 Commentary by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (ISKCON) 

Due to his poor knowledge, Swami Prabhupada has committed the same mistake as Gita Press Gorakhpur. Swami Prabhupada has also translated the meaning of Anuttam as superior. See below.

udarah—magnanimous; sarve—all; eva—certainly; ete—these; jnani—one who is in knowledge; tu—but; atma eva—just like Myself; me—Mine; matam—opinion; asthitah—situated; sah—he; hi—certainly; yukta-atma—engaged in devotional service; mam—unto Me; eva—certainly; anuttamam—the highest goal; gatim—destination.

The above translation is wrong

• Uttam = Superior, highest
• Anuttam = Inferior, lowest, useless

The correct meaning of Gita 7.18 has been explained at the beginning of this page.