Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 16
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 7 श्लोक 16

चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जनाः सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन।
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ।।7.16।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
7.16 O Arjuna, foremost of the Bharata dynasty, four classes of people of virtuous deeds adore Me: the afflicted, the seeker of Knowledge, the seeker of wealth and the man of Knowledge.


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
7.16 Men of good deeds, i.e., those who have meritorious Karmas to their credit, and who resort to Me and worship Me alone - they too are divided into four types according to the degrees of their good deeds, each subseent type being better than the preceding, because of the greatness of their good deeds and gradation in respect of their knowledge.

(i)  The distressed is one who has lost his position in life and his wealth, and who wishes to regain them (ii) He who aspires for wealth is one who desires for wealth which he has not till then attained. Between them the difference is very little, as both of them seek wealth. (iii) He who seeks after knowledge is one who wishes to realise the real nature of the self (in Its pure state) as an entity different from the Prakrti. He is called one who seeks to secure knowledge, because knowledge alone is the essential nature of the self. (iv) And the man of knowledge is he who knows that, it is the essential nature of the self to find happiness only as the Sesa (subsidiary or liege) of the Lord, as taught in the text beginning with, But know that which is other than this (lower nature) to be the higher Prakrti (7.5). Without stopping with the knowledge of the self as different from the Prakrti, he desires to attain the Lord. He thinks that the Lord alone is the highest aim to reach.


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 7.16Chaturvidhaa bhajante maam janaah sukritino’rjuna;
Aarto jijnaasurartharthee jnaanee cha bharatarshabha.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 7.16chatuḥ-vidhāḥ—four kinds; bhajante—worship; mām—me; janāḥ—people; su-kṛitinaḥ—those who are pious; arjuna—Arjun; ārtaḥ—the distressed; jijñāsuḥ—the seekers of knowledge; artha-arthī—the seekers of material gain; jñānī—those who are situated in knowledge; cha—and; bharata-ṛiṣhabha—The best amongst the Bharatas, Arjun