Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्परः संयतेन्द्रियः ।
ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥३९॥
śraddhāvāl labhate jñānaṁ
tat-paraḥ saṁyatendriyaḥ
jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śāntim
acireṇādhigacchati
Word for word (synonyms)
- śraddhāvān
- a faithful man
- labhate
- achieves
- jñānam
- knowledge
- tat-paraḥ
- very much attached to it
- saṁyata
- controlled
- indriyaḥ
- senses
- jñanam
- knowledge
- labdhvā
- having achieved
- parām
- transcendental
- śāntim
- peace
- acireṇa
- very soon
- adhigacchati
- attains
Translation
A faithful man who is absorbed in transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.
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.
Peace
Who attains peace?
A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace.
Purport
Such knowledge in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be achieved by a faithful person who believes firmly in Kṛṣṇa. One is called a faithful man who thinks that, simply by acting in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can attain the highest perfection. This faith is attained by the discharge of devotional service, and by chanting "Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare," which cleanses one's heart of all material dirt. Over and above this, one should control the senses. A person who is faithful to Kṛṣṇa and who controls the senses can easily attain perfection in the knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness without delay.
What this verse teaches
Role of faith in acquiring j’āna ñ Who can and cannot attain jñāna?; Reaction free work; Rise and fight!
- Themes
- How to Receive Knowledge
This verse in a ladder 1
The way up
In thematic compilations 1
- Faith and sense control (4.39 śraddhāvāl labhate jñānaṁ...)
Śrīla Prabhupāda lectures 4
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.37–40 1966-08-17 · New York
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.39–5.3 1966-08-19 · New York
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.34–39 1969-01-12 · Los Angeles
- Bhagavad-gītā 4.39–42 1969-01-14 · Los Angeles
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.