Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 - Jnana Vignana Yoga - Sloka 26

The entire content of this mail is from Swami Chidbhavananda's translation of The Bhagavad Gita, published by Ramakrishna Mission

The Characteristics of Iswara 24-26

1 Gita Sloka  every day - Chapter 7 - Jnana Vignana Yoga - Sloka 26

Vedaham samatitani varta manani cha arjuna I

Bhavishyani cha bhutani mam tu veda na kaschana II Sloka 26

वेदाहं समतीतानि  वर्तमानानि च अर्जुन ।
भविष्याणि च भूतानि मां तु वेद न कश्चन ।। श्लोक २६

I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, the present and the future, but no one knows me.

Iswara is the Lord of maya, having complete control over it. The appearance, stay and dissolution of all beings are all acts of maya. Time also exists in maya. The Lord being all knowing , the destiny of all these is within his  ken.  The beings that were there in the past, that are there in the present and that are to be in the future are all known to him. But the individual souls do not know anything worthwhile about themselves; how then are they going to know about Iswara, the cosmic soul! The devotees however do not come within this limitation. They constantly adore the Lord and chose to be in his proximity. So they understand  him to some extent. The others neither adore nor understand him.

It is possible for the swan to separate milk from water and partake of the former only. The other birds are unable to do this. Iswara is mingled with maya; He is non-dual with it. The ordinary people cannot distinguish him from maya. But the parmahamsas - the men of perfection - are able to cognise Iswara to the exclusion of maya

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa