Bhagavad Gita · 4.38 · Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action·38 of 42
न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते।तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति ॥
na hi jñānena sadṛiśhaṁ pavitramiha vidyate
tatsvayaṁ yogasansiddhaḥ kālenātmani vindati
Sanskrit recitation
Knowledge that cuts doubt · 4.34–4.42 · Teaching
Translation
Verily, there is no purifier in this world like knowledge. He who is perfected in Yoga finds it within the Self in due time.
Meaning
There exists no purifier eal to knowledge of the Self. He who has attained perfection by the constant practice of Karma Yoga and Dhyana Yoga (the Yoga of meditation) will, after a time, find the knowledge of the Self in himself.
After Swami Sivananda
Knowledge that cuts doubt· 4.34–4.42→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 4.34Know that the wise who have realized the truth will instruct thee in that knowledge through long prostration, supplication, and service.
- 4.35Knowing that thou shalt not, O Arjuna, again be deluded like this; and by that thou shalt see all beings in thyself and also in me.
- 4.36Even if thou art the most sinful of all sinners, yet thou shalt surely cross over all sins by the raft of knowledge.
- 4.37As the blazing fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all actions to ash.
4.38Verily, there is no purifier in this world like knowledge. He who is perfected in Yoga finds it within the Self in due time.
- 4.39The one who is full of faith, devoted to it, and has subdued their senses obtains this knowledge; and upon obtaining the knowledge, they attain the supreme peace immediately.
- 4.40The ignorant, the faithless, and the doubting self go to destruction; there is neither this world nor the other, nor happiness for the doubting one.
- 4.41He who has renounced actions through Yoga, whose doubts have been dispelled by knowledge, and who is self-possessed—such a one is not bound by actions, O Arjuna.
- 4.42Therefore, with the sword of knowledge (of the Self), cut asunder the doubt of the self, born of ignorance, residing in your heart, and take refuge in Yoga. Arise, O Arjuna!
Word-by-word→
- hi
- certainly
- na
- not
- iha
- in this world
- tat
- that
- yoga
- practice of yog
- svayam
- oneself
- kālena
- in course of time
- vidyate
- exists
- vindati
- finds
- ātmani
- wihtin the heart
- pavitram
- pure
- jñānena
- with divine knowledge
- sadṛiśham
- like
- sansiddhaḥ
- he who has attained perfection
Related verses
- 2.2The Blessed Lord said, "From whence has this perilous strait come upon you, this dejection…
- 2.6I can hardly tell which would be better, that we should conquer them or that they should…
- 2.11The Blessed Lord said, "You have grieved for those who should not be grieved for; yet, you…
- 2.12Nor, at any time, was I not, nor thou, nor these rulers of men; nor, verily, shall we ever…