Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते ।
तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति ॥३८॥
na hi jñānena sadṛśaṁ
pavitram iha vidyate
tat svayaṁ yoga-saṁsiddhaḥ
kālenātmani vindati
Word for word (synonyms)
- na
- never
- hi
- certainly
- jñānena
- with knowledge
- sadṛśam
- in comparison
- pavitram
- sanctified
- iha
- in this world
- vidyate
- exists
- tat
- that
- svayam
- itself
- yoga
- devotion
- saṁsiddhaḥ
- matured
- kālena
- in course of time
- ātmani
- in himself
- vindati
- enjoys
Translation
In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has achieved this enjoys the self within himself in due course of time.
Defined in the Gītā
Knowledge
What is knowledge?
Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.
Purport
When we speak of transcendental knowledge, we do so in terms of spiritual understanding. As such, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Ignorance is the cause of our bondage, and knowledge is the cause of our liberation. This knowledge is the mature fruit of devotional service, and when one is situated in transcendental knowledge, he need not search for peace elsewhere, for he enjoys peace within himself. In other words, this knowledge and peace are culminated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the last word in the Bhagavad-gītā.
What this verse teaches
Results and glories of jñāna — no bewilderment, pure vision, and destruction of sins
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 3
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.34–38 1966-08-15 · New York
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.37–40 1966-08-17 · New York
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.34–39 1969-01-12 · Los Angeles
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.