:: Chapter 7 :: Knowledge of the AbsoluteKnowledge of the Absolute

Text 2

jnanam te 'ham sa-vijnanam
idam vaksyamy asesatah
yaj jnatva neha bhuyo 'nyaj
jnatavyam avasisyate

Synonyms

jnanam--phenomenal knowledge; te--unto you; aham--I; sa--with; vijnanam--numinous knowledge; idam--this; vaksyami--shall explain; asesatah--in full; yat--which; jnatva--knowing; na--not; iha--in this world; bhuyah--further; anyat--anything more; jnatavyam--knowable; avasisyate--remains.

Translation

I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. This being known, nothing further shall remain for you to know.

Purport

Complete knowledge includes knowledge of the phenomenal world, the spirit behind it, and the source of both of them. This is transcendental knowledge. The Lord wants to explain the above-mentioned system of knowledge because Arjuna is Krisna's confidential devotee and friend. In the beginning of the Fourth Chapter this explanation was given by the Lord, and it is again confirmed here: complete knowledge can be achieved only by the devotee of the Lord in disciple succession directly from the Lord. Therefore one should be intelligent enough to know the source of all knowledge, who is the cause of all causes and the only object for meditation in all types of yoga practice. When the cause of all causes becomes known, then everything knowable becomes known, and nothing remains unknown. The Vedas (Mundaka Upanisad 1.3) say, kasmin bhagavo vijnate sarvam idam vijnatam bhavati.

Text 3

manusyanam sahasresu
kascid yatati siddhaye
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah

Synonyms

manusyanam--of men; sahasresu--out of many thousands; kascit--someone; yatati--endeavors; siddhaye--for perfection; yatatam--of those so endeavoring; api--indeed; siddhanam--of those who have achieved perfection; kascit--someone; mam--Me; vetti--does know; tattvatah--in fact.

Translation

Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows me in truth.

Purport

There are various grades of men, and out of many thousands, one may be sufficiently interested in transcendental realization to try to know what the self is, what the body is, and what the Absolute Truth is. Generally mankind is simply engaged in the animal propensities, namely eating, sleeping, defending and mating, and hardly anyone is interested in transcendental knowledge. The first six chapters of the Gita are meant for those who are interested in transcendental knowledge, in understanding the self, the Superself and the process of realization by jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga and discrimination of the self from matter. However, Krisna can be known only by persons who are in Krisna consciousness. Other transcendentalists may achieve impersonal Brahman realization, for this is easier than understanding Krisna. Krisna is the Supreme Person, but at the same time He is beyond the knowledge of Brahman and Paramatma. The yogis and jnanis are confused in their attempts to understand Krisna. Although the greatest of the impersonalists, Sripada Sankaracarya, has admitted in his Gita commentary that Krisna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his followers do not accept Krisna as such, for it is very difficult to know Krisna, even though one has transcendental realization of impersonal Brahman.

Krisna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, the primeval Lord Govinda. Isvarah paramah Krisnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah/ anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam. It is very difficult for the nondevotees to know Him. Although nondevotees declare that the path of bhakti, or devotional service, is very easy, they cannot practice it. If the path of bhakti is so easy, as the nondevotee class of men proclaim, then why do they take up the difficult path? Actually the path of bhakti is not easy. The so-called path of bhakti practiced by unauthorized persons without knowledge of bhakti may be easy, but when it is practiced factually according to the rules and regulations, the speculative scholars and philosophers fall away from the path. Srila Rupa Gosvami writes in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.101):

sruti smrti-puranadi-
pancaratra-vidhim vina
aikantiki harer bhaktir
utpatayaiva kalpate

"Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upanisads, puranas and Narada-pancaratra is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society."

It is not possible for the Brahman-realized impersonalist or the Paramatma-realized yogi to understand Krisna the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the son of mother Yasoda or the charioteer of Arjuna. Even the great demigods are sometimes confused about Krisna (muhyanti yat surayah). Mam tu veda na kascana: "No one knows Me as I am," the Lord says. And if one does know Him, then sa mahatma su-durlabhah. "Such a great soul is very rare." Therefore unless one practices devotional service to the Lord, one cannot know Krisna as He is (tattvatah), even though one is a great scholar or philosopher. Only the pure devotees can know something of the inconceivable transcendental qualities in Krisna, in the cause of all causes, in His omnipotence and opulence, and in His wealth, fame, strength, beauty, knowledge and renunciation, because Krisna is benevolently inclined to His devotees. He is the last word in Brahman realization, and the devotees alone can realize Him as He is. Therefore it is said:

atah sri-Krisna-namadi
na bhaved grahyam indriyaih
sevonmukhe hi jihvadau
svayam eva sphuraty adah

"No one can understand Krisna as He is by the blunt material senses. But He reveals Himself to the devotees, being pleased with them for their transcendental loving service unto Him." (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.234)