Cluster 0276
BG-7.28
Ovi 7.172
Original (Marathi): ऐसे विकल्पाचे वांयाणे । कांटे देखोनि सणाणे । जे मतिभ्रमाचे पासवणें । घेतीचिना ॥१७२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ऐसे | such, of-this-kind |
| विकल्पाचे | of-vikalpa (of-doubt, of-alternative-imagining) |
| वांयाणे | vain, futile (Marathi vāyāṇē — vain, gone-to-waste) |
| कांटे | thorns |
| देखोनि | having-seen, on-seeing |
| सणाणे | sharpen, become-keen (Marathi saṇāṇaṇe — to-sharpen, become-pointed/alert) |
| जे | who |
| मतिभ्रमाचे | of-mati-bhrama (of-mind-confusion, of-intellect-wandering) |
| पासवणें | pack-saddle, load-saddle, yoking (Marathi pāsavaṇē — the pack-saddle on a draft-animal) |
| घेतीचिना | do-NOT-take-on (emphatic negative -ci-nā) |
Literal translation
English: Such vain thorns of vikalpa — on seeing them, they sharpen; who do NOT take on the pack-saddle of mati-bhrama.
मराठी (आधुनिक): अशा विकल्पाच्या वायफळ काट्यांना पाहूनच जे (विवेकाने) टणक-तीक्ष्ण होतात; जे मतिभ्रमाचे (बुद्धिच्या भ्रांतीचे) पासवणे (ओझे, जू) आपल्यावर घेतच नाहीत — (तेच ते अंतगत-पाप पुण्यकर्म असलेले भक्त).
Metaphor-unfold
| Literal image | Philosophical referent | Modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Vikalpāce vāyāṇē kāṇṭē dēkhōni saṇāṇē — on-seeing the vain-thorns-of-vikalpa, they sharpen | The doctrinal-claim: perceptual recognition of vikalpa IS what BG-7.28 calls anta-gata-pāpa (pāpa exhausted); the pāpa-exhaustion is not a karma-arithmetic completion but a perceptual-event of seeing-the-thorn-for-what-it-is — and this perception itself becomes a sharpening (saṇāṇaṇe), not a wounding | The person who, on noticing that a tempting career-fork is an iccha-dveṣa-bait (the want-this/avoid-that binary that would-have generated months of mati-bhrama), feels their perception sharpen rather than dull — the recognition itself is a clarifying-event, not a regret |
| Mati-bhramāce pāsavaṇē ghētī-cinā — they do-NOT take-on the pack-saddle of mati-bhrama | The doctrinal-claim: bondage is rendered as a volitional yoking-event — the bhakta does not have mati-bhrama imposed on them; the bhakta refuses to take it on as a pasavaṇē (the saddle one accepts as load-bearer). The dvandva-moha is the SADDLE; the not-yoking is the refusal-event. This makes BG-7.28's anta-gata-pāpa a refusal-of-yoking | The person who, when a co-worker offers them a juicy grievance to carry on behalf of the group (the let me tell you what so-and-so said about you moment), recognizes the pack-saddle being-offered and declines to harness up — the not-taking is itself the discipline, not a later effort to dislodge what was-already-loaded |
Metaphor-family: vikalpa-kāṇṭē-and-pasavaṇē — the seer-who-sharpens-on-sighting-thorns and refuses-to-yoke-self-to-mati-bhrama.
Nāth-yogic layer
(none — 7.172 is a doctrinal-perceptual ovi naming the volitional-refusal of yoking; not overtly Nātha-tantric; no cakra/suṣumnā/triadic-body-decomposition lexicon.)
Cross-references
- Internal: 7.170 (developed-further — the vikalpa-thorns scattered on the bhāva-śuddhi path by the dvandva-moha in BG-7.27 are now seen-and-sharpened-upon by the BG-7.28 exception-class); 7.171 (contradicts-and-revises — 7.171 named the fallen-beings beaten with mahāduḥkha-cudgels; 7.172 names the standing-class who saw the thorns and did-not-fall)
- Tukaram parallel: 1843 (doctrinal-parallel — hālavūni khuṇṭa ādhīm karāvā baḷakaṭa test-the-stake-make-it-strong, sukha-duḥkha sāhē harṣāmarṣī bhangā nayē bear-the-pairs-don't-break — the same pre-engagement perceptual-volitional discrimination)
- Source citation: BG-7.28 (direct-paraphrase — anta-gatam pāpam janānām puṇya-karmaṇām rendered as the perceptual-event of seeing-vikalpa-thorns + the volitional-refusal of pasavaṇē); BG-7.27 (echo — the universal-dvandva-moha-bondage that 7.172 reverses for a sub-class); BG-2.69 (echo — the perceptual-asymmetry of yā niśā sarva-bhūtānām tasyām jāgarti samyamī — what-is-night for-bound-beings, in-that the-restrained-one is-awake)
Modern application
- When you have been told you must let go of a confusion you can-feel-yourself yoking-up to (a grievance you keep returning to, a worry-line you keep walking), and 7.172's pāsavaṇē ghētī-cinā (do-NOT-take-on-the-pack-saddle) reframes the work: it is not letting-go-of-what's-already-loaded, it is not-yoking-the-load-in-the-first-place — the discipline is at the refusal-to-saddle-up-event, not at the later unburdening
- When a perceptual moment arrives (seeing a tempting binary, sighting a familiar bait-pattern) and you notice the seeing-itself is a sharpening rather than a dulling — and 7.172's kāṇṭē dēkhōni saṇāṇē (see-the-thorns-and-sharpen) is the operational-marker that the seeing-as-sharpening is itself the anta-gata-pāpa sign, not a separate milestone you have-yet-to-reach
- When someone offers you a piece of mati-bhrama-as-currency (a hot-take to repeat, a slight to nurse, a category to apply) and you can feel the pasavaṇē being held-out — and 7.172 invites the recognition that not taking the saddle is itself the discipline; the question is not what to do with the load, the question is did you accept the saddle
Sādhanā
For the next 12 hours, when any opportunity-to-take-on-confusion is offered (a grievance, a worry-loop invitation, a binary-bait), notice the moment of the pasavaṇē-offer BEFORE you have decided how to respond. Name it silently: "pasavaṇē offered." Then notice whether you take the saddle or set it down. One observation per day for two days. The discipline is the noticing, not the result.
Arc
7.172 names the perceptual-volitional exception-class (those who see-the-vikalpa-thorns-and-sharpen, who do-NOT-take-on the mati-bhrama-pack-saddle); 7.173 will escalate to active walking-discipline (upright on the eka-niṣṭhā-footing, crushing-the-vikalpa-blades, abandoning-the-mahāpātaka-wilderness).
Ovi 7.173
Original (Marathi): उजू एकनिष्ठेच्या पाउलीं । रगडूनि विकल्पाचिया भालीं । महापातकाची सांडिली । अटवीं जिहीं ॥१७३॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| उजू | upright, straight |
| एकनिष्ठेच्या | of-one-pointedness, of-eka-niṣṭhā (one-pointed-faith) |
| पाउलीं | foot-prints, foot-steps, footfall (locative) |
| रगडूनि | crushing, grinding-down (Marathi ragaḍaṇē — to-crush, grind) |
| विकल्पाचिया | of-vikalpa (genitive) |
| भालीं | blades, spears, sharp-edges (Marathi bhāḷa — spearhead, blade) |
| महापातकाची | of-mahāpātaka (of-grievous-sin) |
| सांडिली | abandoned, left-behind, discarded |
| अटवीं | wilderness, forest, ataṭavī (the trackless-region) |
| जिहीं | by-whom (third-person plural instrumental-relative) |
Literal translation
English: Upright on the foot-prints of one-pointedness (eka-niṣṭhā), crushing the blades of vikalpa, those-by-whom the wilderness of mahāpātaka has been abandoned.
मराठी (आधुनिक): सरळ एकनिष्ठेच्या पाऊलवाटेवर (पावलावर) चालत, विकल्पाच्या भाल्यांना पायाखाली रगडत, ज्यांनी महापातकाचे ते जंगल मागे टाकले — (तेच ते दृढव्रत भक्त).
Metaphor-unfold
| Literal image | Philosophical referent | Modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Ujū eka-niṣṭhēcyā pāulīm — upright on the foot-print of one-pointed-faith | The doctrinal-claim: BG-7.28's dṛḍha-vrata (firm-of-vow) is operationalized as an embodied walking-posture (upright + on-the-eka-niṣṭhā-footprint), not as an internal mental-firmness. The vrata is a STANCE-and-A-PATH, not a resolution-held-in-the-head | The recovering-addict who is standing-upright-on-the-1-pointed-program — the program is the footfall, the uprightness is the posture, and the firmness is in the walking-of-it, not in the strength-of-conviction held-separate-from-the-walking |
| Ragaḍūnī vikalpācīyā bhālīm — crushing the blades of vikalpa | The doctrinal-claim: the eka-niṣṭhā-walking does not avoid the vikalpa-blades; it crushes them under-foot. The blades are sharp enough to cut a walker without the upright-stance; the upright-stance turns the blades into crushed-ground. This is BG-7.28's dvandva-moha-nirmukta operationalized: not nirmukti-as-not-encountering but nirmukti-as-crushing-on-encounter | The disciplined-practitioner who, on encountering the harṣa-amarṣa-blade (the they-said-this-about-me spike), neither flinches nor circumnavigates but walks-it-flat — the eka-niṣṭhā-footfall renders the blade impotent by-the-very-act-of-walking-over |
| Mahāpātakācī aṭavī sāṇḍilī jihīm — those-by-whom the wilderness-of-mahāpātaka has been abandoned | The doctrinal-claim: BG-7.28's anta-gata-pāpa (pāpa-gone-to-its-end) is operationalized as a spatial-departure-event from the aṭavī (wilderness, trackless-forest) of mahāpātaka. The pāpa is a REGION, not a balance; the ending is a LEAVING-of-that-region. The aorist-perfective sāṇḍilī marks the event-as-completed | The person who has left the toxic-neighborhood of their twenties — not by repenting each act but by physically-and-volitionally departing the region where that life was structured. The neighborhood is gone-from, not balanced-out |
Metaphor-family: ujū-eka-niṣṭhēcyā-pāulīm (the upright footfall of one-pointed-faith) + mahāpātakācī-aṭavī (the wilderness-of-mahāpātaka abandoned) — the walking-discipline that crushes-blades and leaves-the-region.
Nāth-yogic layer
(none — 7.173 is a walking-discipline ovi naming the embodied dṛḍha-vrata operationalization. The upright-footfall could be stretched to a yogic posture-image, but no overt cakra/suṣumnā/kuṇḍalinī lexicon; no triadic body-decomposition; no anāhata-stream. Honest absence-marking preferred over over-claim.)
Cross-references
- Internal: 7.172 (developed-further — the perceptual-volitional refusal of 7.172 escalates to active walking-discipline in 7.173); 2.41 (parallel-image — vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha one-pointed-buddhi alone vs. bahu-śākhā anantāś ca buddhayaḥ many-branched buddhis is the same eka-niṣṭhā-vs-vikalpa architecture)
- Tukaram parallel: 1843 (doctrinal-parallel — hālavūni khuṇṭa ādhīm karāvā baḷakaṭa + sukha-duḥkha sāhē + jīvēm ādhīm marōni rāhāvēm — the closest abhang-mirror with foundation-test + duality-bearing + departure-from-region as the four-stage anti-dvandva discipline)
- Source citation: BG-7.28 (direct-paraphrase — te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante mām dṛḍha-vratāḥ rendered as the walking-narrative ujū eka-niṣṭhā-pāulīm + ragaḍūnī vikalpa-bhālīm + sāṇḍilī mahāpātakācī aṭavī); BG-2.41 (echo — vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha . . . bahu-śākhā buddhayaḥ avyavasāyinām one-pointed-vs-many-branched buddhi); Yoga Sūtra 1.32 (echo — tat-pratiṣedhārtham eka-tattvābhyāsaḥ one-principle-practice as anti-vikṣepa discipline)
Modern application
- When you have been treating firmness-of-vow as a feeling-state (the I am really committed this time sensation) and noticing that the feeling-state evaporates under-load — and 7.173's ujū eka-niṣṭhēcyā pāulīm (upright-on-the-eka-niṣṭhā-footing) reframes vrata-firmness as a walking-posture, not a felt-conviction: the firmness is in the upright-stance during the walk, not in the conviction held-separate-from-the-walk
- When a sharp criticism, slight, or harṣa-amarṣa-spike lands and your reflex is either to flinch-and-avoid or to circle-around-it — and 7.173's ragaḍūnī vikalpācīyā bhālīm (crushing-the-vikalpa-blades) invites the third option: walk-it-flat by the very-act-of-staying-on-the-eka-niṣṭhā-footing; the blade is rendered impotent by the foot-fall, not by the avoidance
- When you have been trying to forgive-yourself-for-past-mahāpātaka by inner-balance-restoration and finding the inner-balance never quite holds — and 7.173's mahāpātakācī aṭavī sāṇḍilī (the wilderness-of-mahāpātaka has-been-abandoned) reframes the work as a spatial-departure: the pāpa-region is not balanced-out, it is left-behind; the question is am I still living in that wilderness? not have I cleared the balance?
Sādhanā
Pick one eka-niṣṭhā-footprint you actually walk-on (one daily practice — japa, breath-count, gratitude-write, sit-still-for-3-minutes). For the next 24 hours, when a vikalpa-blade encounters you mid-day (a critical voice, a comparison-spike, a should-I/shouldn't-I binary), do NOT discuss the blade and do NOT avoid the blade — return to the footprint for exactly 30 seconds, walk the upright-stance, and then continue. One blade-crushing per day for two days.
Arc
7.173 names the active walking-discipline (upright on the eka-niṣṭhā-footing + crushing-the-vikalpa-blades + abandoning-the-mahāpātaka-wilderness); 7.174 will name the running-arrival (puṇya-running + reaching-My-proximity + escaping-the-highway-robbers) — closing the cluster's three-ovi perception → walking → running arc.
Ovi 7.174
Original (Marathi): मग पुण्याचे धांवा घेतले । आणि माझी जवळीक पातले । किंबहुना चुकले । वाटवधेयां ॥१७४॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मग | then |
| पुण्याचे | of-puṇya (genitive) |
| धांवा | runs, races, dashes (Marathi dhāmvā — run, dash) |
| घेतले | took, undertook |
| आणि | and |
| माझी | My |
| जवळीक | proximity, nearness (Marathi javaḷīka — nearness, vicinity) |
| पातले | reached, arrived |
| किंबहुना | and-moreover, in-short, indeed-furthermore |
| चुकले | escaped, missed, evaded (Marathi cukaṇē — to-escape, to-miss) |
| वाटवधेयां | from-the-highway-robbers (Marathi vāṭa-vadhēyā — path-cutters, way-robbers; from vāṭa path + vadhēyā killer/striker) |
Literal translation
English: Then they undertook the runs-toward-puṇya; and they reached My proximity; and moreover they escaped the highway-robbers.
मराठी (आधुनिक): मग ते पुण्याचे धावे (वेगवान धाव) घेऊन लागले; आणि माझ्या जवळिकेला (सान्निध्याला) पोहोचले; एवढेच नव्हे तर ते (वाटेवरचे) वाटमारे (मार्ग-लुटारू) (इच्छा-द्वेषाची जोडी) यांच्या तावडीतून सुटले.
Metaphor-unfold
| Literal image | Philosophical referent | Modern equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Puṇyāce dhāmvā ghētalē — they undertook the runs-toward-puṇya | The doctrinal-claim: BG-7.28's puṇya-karmaṇām (of-puṇya-action) is operationalized as a velocity-event (dhāmvā = run, dash), not a slow-accumulation. After 7.172's perception and 7.173's walking-discipline, 7.174 marks the running-stage — the bhakta now moves with momentum on the puṇya-side once the mahāpātaka-wilderness has been left | The runner who, after the first weeks of grinding morning-runs, suddenly experiences the running-as-running rather than running-as-effort — the puṇya-side has its own momentum once one has actually departed the prior-region |
| Mājhī javaḷīka pātalē — they reached My proximity | The doctrinal-claim: BG-7.28's bhajante mām (they-worship-Me) is operationalized as a proximity-arrival (javaḷīka pātalē — reached-the-nearness), not as ritual-action. The Marathi distinctive-reading: bhakti is spatial-arrival-at-the-Lord's-vicinity, not a category-of-action-performed-on-the-Lord | The long-distance lover who has finally arrived at the beloved's doorstep — the worship is not what-they-will-now-do; the worship is the arrival-itself, the standing-there-having-come |
| Kimbahunā cukalē vāṭa-vadhēyām — and moreover they escaped the highway-robbers | The doctrinal-claim: BG-7.28's dvandva-moha-nirmukta (freed-from-the-delusion-of-pairs) is operationalized as an escape-from-being-ambushed by vāṭa-vadhēyā (path-cutters, highway-robbers). The icchā-dveṣa pair of BG-7.27 (which cluster 0275 had developed as the icchā-kumārī married to dveṣa producing dvandva-moha) is now allegorized as the highway-robbers who ambush travelers on the path-of-life. The kimbahunā (and-moreover) rhetorically-elevates the escape as the climactic achievement | The veteran who emerged from a long deception-zone realizing only-now that there were always-ambushers waiting at every crossroad — the not-being-robbed is itself the achievement, more than the destination-reached, because the robbers were structurally-present throughout |
Metaphor-family: puṇyace-dhāmvā (the velocity-of-the-released-bhakta) + mājhī-javaḷīka-pātalē (proximity-arrival as bhakti) + vāṭa-vadhēyām-cukalē (escape-from-highway-robbers as dvandva-moha-nirmukti).
Nāth-yogic layer
(none — 7.174 is a closing triumphalist-arrival ovi naming the BG-7.28 bhajante mām + dvandva-moha-nirmukta operationalization. No overt cakra/suṣumnā/kuṇḍalinī/triadic-body lexicon; the javaḷīka pātalē (proximity-reached) is a Vārkari-bhakti-vocabulary item, not specifically Nātha-tantric. Honest absence-marking preferred.)
Cross-references
- Internal: 7.173 (developed-further — the walking-discipline of 7.173 escalates to running-arrival-escape in 7.174; the aṭavī sāṇḍilī of 7.173 is the precondition for the vāṭa-vadhēyām cukalē of 7.174 — once-the-wilderness-is-abandoned, the path-robbers are escaped); 8.x (foreshadows — BG-8.5-7 anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran + tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu mām anusmara and BG-8.14 ananya-cetāḥ satatam yo mām smarati develop BG-7.28's bhajante mām dṛḍha-vratāḥ into anta-kāla/ananya-cetas technologies); 18.66 (foreshadows — BG-18.66's sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekam śaraṇam vraja is the climactic-form of 7.174's mājhī javaḷīka pātalē)
- Tukaram parallel: 1772 (doctrinal-parallel — baḷivanta āmhī samarthāce dāsa + māriḷē durjana ṣaḍ-varga warrior-bhakta-victorious + six-vargas-killed — same triumphalist-escape-from-the-pairs); 1495 (doctrinal-parallel — Lord-vocational-pressure architecture grounds the structural-guarantee of proximity-arrival once conditions are met)
- Source citation: BG-7.28 (direct-paraphrase — te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante mām dṛḍha-vratāḥ rendered as the triple-event puṇyāce dhāmvā + mājhī javaḷīka pātalē + vāṭa-vadhēyām cukalē); BG-7.27 (echo — the icchā-dveṣa pair allegorized as vāṭa-vadhēyā highway-robbers); BG-18.66 (echo — sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi climactic-form of the BG-7.28 anta-gata-pāpa + bhajante-mām doctrine); Bṛhadāraṇyaka 4.4.23 (echo — śānto dānto uparatas titikṣuḥ samāhito bhūtvā ātmany evātmānam paśyati — the dvandva-released as titikṣu who sees-Self-in-Self)
Modern application
- When you have left a destructive context (relationship, job, habit-region) and noticed that for a while afterward there is no momentum-on-the-good-side — only the relief-of-departure — and then, weeks later, a sudden run-toward-something-real begins. 7.174's puṇyāce dhāmvā ghētalē (then they-undertook-the-puṇya-runs) names this as the structural-second-stage: the running on the puṇya-side starts after the wilderness has been abandoned, not before
- When you have been treating bhakti as something you-must-perform (the practices to do, the disciplines to maintain) and not as a proximity-arrival — and 7.174's mājhī javaḷīka pātalē (reached-My-proximity) invites the reframing: bhakti is the standing-there-having-come, not the doings-on-arrival; the worship is the arrival
- When you have been mystified by why some-people-on-the-spiritual-path keep getting ambushed by the same iccha-dveṣa pair (the same career-binary, the same relationship-binary, the same self-image-binary) — and 7.174's cukalē vāṭa-vadhēyām (escaped the highway-robbers) makes the diagnostic precise: there ARE robbers structurally-present at every crossroad; the discipline is not to-pretend-they-aren't-there but to-have-built-the-velocity-and-the-stance-by-which-one-misses-them. The robbers don't disappear; the traveler escapes
Sādhanā
For 5 minutes today, name the vāṭa-vadhēyā — the specific iccha-dveṣa pair that has ambushed you most often on your path this year (write it down as a pair: "I-want-X / I-dread-Y"). Then ask: at the crossroad where this pair waits, what would not-getting-robbed look like? Not avoiding the crossroad, not pretending the pair isn't there — what is the velocity and stance by which you would walk-past-them? One sentence. Then walk one specific occurrence-of-this-crossroad over the next 24 hours and see if the velocity-and-stance held.
Arc
7.174 closes the cluster with the triple-event triumphalism (running-toward-puṇya + reaching-My-proximity + escaping-the-highway-robbers); the next cluster 0277 (BG-7.29 jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye / te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmam karma cākhilam) will extend the proximity-arrival of 7.174 into comprehensive-knowledge of brahman + adhyātma + karma; the chapter-7 closing-arc (BG-7.28-30) bridges into the formal door-opening of adhyāya-8's death/time/technical-doctrines.
Cluster summary
Core teaching: BG-7.28 is the LIBERATION-COUNTER to BG-7.27's universal-bondage etiology. Those whose pāpa is anta-gata (gone-to-its-end), of puṇya-action, become dvandva-moha-nirmukta (freed-from-the-very-delusion-of-pairs that BG-7.27 just defined) and bhajante mām dṛḍha-vratāḥ (worship-Me firm-of-vow). Jñāneśvar's compact 3-ovi treatment (7.172-7.174) operates as a continuous narrative-extension of cluster 0275's footpath-allegory: 7.172 names the SEEING (vikalpa-thorns seen-and-sharpened-upon, mati-bhrama-saddle refused); 7.173 names the WALKING (upright on the eka-niṣṭhā-footing, crushing-vikalpa-blades, abandoning-the-mahāpātaka-wilderness); 7.174 names the RUNNING-AND-ARRIVAL (puṇya-runs, My-proximity-reached, highway-robbers-escaped). The cluster's distinctive Marathi-image-set: the kāṇṭē dēkhōni saṇāṇē (see-the-thorns-and-sharpen), mati-bhramāce pāsavaṇē ghētī-cinā (refuse-the-pack-saddle-of-mind-confusion), ujū eka-niṣṭhēcyā pāulīm (upright-on-eka-niṣṭhā-footfall), ragaḍūnī vikalpācīyā bhālīm (crushing-the-vikalpa-blades), mahāpātakācī aṭavī sāṇḍilī (wilderness-of-mahāpātaka abandoned), mājhī javaḷīka pātalē (reached-My-proximity), and vāṭa-vadhēyām cukalē (escaped-the-highway-robbers). The most-load-bearing image is the vāṭa-vadhēyā (highway-robbers) — the BG-7.27 icchā-dveṣa pair allegorized as path-cutters who ambush travelers; the dvandva-moha-nirmukti is then operationalized as escape-from-ambush, not as freedom-from-an-abstract-condition.
Theme tags: bg-7.28, anta-gata-papam, punya-karma, dvandva-moha-nirmukta, dridha-vrata, bhajante-mam, vikalpa-kante-progression, uju-eka-nishthechya-paulim, mahapatakaci-atavi-sandili, majhi-javalika-patale, vata-vadheyam-cukale, perception-walking-running-arc, footpath-allegory-continuous-with-0275.
Contains extended metaphor: true (vikalpa-kāṇṭē + pasavaṇē + ujū-eka-niṣṭhā-pāulīm + mahāpātakācī-aṭavī + mājhī-javaḷīka + vāṭa-vadhēyām — six load-bearing images forming a single continuous footpath-narrative).
Chapter arc position: Cluster 0276 opens the chapter-7 closing-bhakti-pivot (BG-7.28-30) after the long diagnostic-mid-section (BG-7.20-27). It is the FIRST-LIBERATION-COUNTER following the chapter's diagnostic build-up: the first ovi-block that names the EXIT-conditions from the dvandva-moha that BG-7.27 had just universally-diagnosed. The cluster stands at the chapter-7 → adhyāya-8 hinge — the proximity-arrival of BG-7.28 sets up BG-7.29's comprehensive-brahman-knowledge and BG-7.30's prayāṇa-kāla-readiness, which adhyāya-8 will then operationalize as the death/time/technical-doctrines (BG-8.1-2 Arjuna's seven-fold question opens that operationalization).
Connects to next sloka: Cluster 0276 closes BG-7.28 with the triple triumphalist-arrival puṇyāce dhāmvā + mājhī javaḷīka pātalē + vāṭa-vadhēyām cukalē. The next śloka BG-7.29 (jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye / te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmam karma cākhilam) pivots to the EXTENDED-FRUIT of this proximity-arrival: the proximity-bhakta now KNOWS brahman + adhyātma + karma comprehensively. BG-7.30 (sādhi-bhūtādhi-daivam mām sādhi-yajñam ca ye viduḥ / prayāṇa-kāle 'pi ca mām te vidur yukta-cetasaḥ) extends the knowing-list further (adhi-bhūta, adhi-daiva, adhi-yajña) and crucially introduces prayāṇa-kāla (the departure-time) — which becomes the formal opening-question of adhyāya-8 (BG-8.1-2: kim tad brahma, kim adhyātma, kim karma, adhi-bhūta, adhi-daiva, adhi-yajña, prayāṇa-kāle katham). The 0276 → 0277 → 0278 sequence is the chapter-7 → adhyāya-8 doctrinal-bridge.