In the first six chapters bhagavan talks about Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Dhyana Yoga. In Chapter 7 he starts to give directions on how to assimilate this knowledge and transofm it to practical wisdom. Knowing and doing are two different aspects.
Bhagavan starts with a very profound and direct instruction : take refuge in me without any reservations. This knowledge is such knowing this nothing remains to be known.
Another profound statement from Gurudev in the commentary of 2nd verse According to Śaṅkarācārya, speculative knowledge is jñāna, and actual experience of the perfection is vijñāna.. Here Kṛṣṇa is promising that he would not only deliver to Arjuna the theoretical explanation of the art of divine life but shall during the very discourse, take him to the highest peak of Self-rediscovery.
Only very few show ardent interest and inclination, thirst for this spiritual knowledge. A deeper delibration on this revealed to me that it is because of the wrong practices adopted by individuals. Those are very fortunate to find the right Guru and right method to develop this inclination.
All life lower prakriti ( 8 elements- earth water fire air space, mind intellect ego) and higher prakriti consciousness are all embodiment of myself. Ultimately All of this had to be dissolved into me. Hence nothing is higher than me
Bhagavan emphatically clarifies that he is the essence of all existence, sapidity of the water, fragrance of the earth, eternal seed of all existence. Hence all manifestation as mentioned earlier had to be dissolved back into the higher essence. Hence for life which is manifested as real as it appears to be, recognizing and realizing the real nature of the bhagavan makes on acknowledge the ephemeral nature of existence. This ephimeral nature is coined as Maya in advita! Bhagavan makes a very profound statement in verse 12 saying though all manifested existence has my essence , I am not in them, they are in Me.
However the impulsive nature of the three gunas of the prakriti makes the mind/ego identify higher nature as this lower nature creates an illusion which is difficult to cross over unless one takes the refuge in Bhagavan.
In these verses Bhagavan very succinctly describe the nature of devotees. One thing we need to understand as the previous verse #11 bhagavan says i am the desire in everyone. This desire to reach bhagavan is one aspect, but as our ego identifies with the prakriti the same desire is diverted to the vyavaharik aspects of life.
Bhagavan says those who lost the ability of discernment will not be able adopt the right methods.
Bhagavan categories four types of people and calls them VIRTUOUS( something needs to be deliberated about)
Men who are distressed - a good example is buddha, he sees life as a troublesome , filled with sorrow. Hence on need to look for a solution and this distress creates a desire to know higher nature.
The second type are the once desire this higher nature to satisfy their intellectual apetite to understand the deeper secrets of nature.
The third type try to take refuge in higher to fulfill the demands of the dharma artha kama moksha.
The fourth type , a rare type total immerse on the higher and their journey starts with the surrender naturally. This surrender has no cause , no desire , no transaction. These are the real individual who attain the abode of lord and selflessly guide others reach the same state.
One aspect we need to understand is that the deities are mere functionaries of nature; But people worship these deities to full-fill their desires according to the function of the deity. But a true wise , jnani and mumukshu takes the refuge in the higher essence in bhagavan.
Verse24: This stanza gives us a clear insight into the futility of mistaking the bottle for the medicine, the physical form for the Guru, the idol for the God!
The above commentary from Gurudev clarifies it all. We are stuck with the outer forms, with no ability to percieve the essence. This eludes the eternal nature of the divine, which is unborn , the impreshiable.
I would like to refer to the commentary by Gurudev on verse#29
Such a true meditator, meditating upon the Self, comes to realise his identity and oneness with the Conscious Principle in him, the Self. The Self in the individual (Ᾱtman) is the eternal Truth, which is the substratum for the whole universe (Brahman). To realise the Self is to become the Brahman, since the Self in the individual is the One Self everywhere. This non-duality of the Truth is implied here in this stanza when it declares that ‘Those who meditate upon Me, the Self, come to know Brahman’.
Chinmayananda, Swami. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7 (p. 85). Central Chinmaya Mission Trust. Kindle Edition.
The only way to escape this delusion is to be in constant thought(meditation) on the essence of the Bhrahan, the higher self.
In short, the chapter closes with a total assertion that ‘He who knows Me knows everything’.
Chinmayananda, Swami. Shrimad Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7 (p. 88). Central Chinmaya Mission Trust. Kindle Edition.