The Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 7 · verse 7.7

There is nothing higher than I, O Dhananjaya. All this is strung on me as pearls on a thread.

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय। मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव॥

Transliteration

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya; mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

English translation

There is nothing higher than I, O Dhananjaya. All this is strung on me as pearls on a thread.

Meaning — what the verse is actually saying

The image of pearls on a thread is the Gita's simplest cosmology: every distinct thing is real, every distinct thing is held by something that is not itself a separate thing. The world is many pearls; the divine is the thread.

Modern practice — what to do today because of this

When overwhelmed by the multiplicity of demands, return to the image. The thread does not get tired. It is what holds the pearls. Find your thread — whatever that is for you — and let it hold the day's pearls.

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