Bhagavad Gita · 7.3 · Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment·3 of 30
मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्िचद्यतति सिद्धये।यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्िचन्मां वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ॥
manuṣhyāṇāṁ sahasreṣhu kaśhchid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaśhchin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ
Sanskrit recitation
The divine inside ordinary nature · 7.1–7.14 · Teaching
Translation
Among thousands of men, one may perchance strive for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one may perchance know Me in essence.
Meaning
Mark how difficult it is to attain to the knowledge of the Self or to how Brahman in essence. Siddhanam literally means those who have attained to perfection (the perfected ones) but here it means only those who strive to attain perfection.Those who purchase diamonds, rubies or pearls are few. Those who study the postgraduate course are few. Even so those who attempt for Selfrealisation and who actually know the Truth in essence are few only. The liberated ones (Jivanmuktas) are rare. Real Sadhakas are also rare. The,knowledge of the Self bestows incalculable fruits on man, viz., immortality, eternal bliss, perennial joy and everlasting peace. It is very difficult to attain to this knowledge of the Self. But a good and earnest spiritual aspirant (Sadhaka) who is endowed with a strong determination and iron resolve, and who is eipped with the four means to salvation can easily obtain the knowledge of the Self.
After Swami Sivananda
The divine inside ordinary nature· 7.1–7.14→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 7.1The Blessed Lord said, "O Arjuna, hear how you shall, without doubt, know Me fully, with your mind intent on Me, practicing Yoga and taking refuge in Me."
- 7.2I will declare to you in full this knowledge combined with realization, after knowing which nothing else remains to be known here.
7.3Among thousands of men, one may perchance strive for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one may perchance know Me in essence.
- 7.4Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and egoism—thus is My Nature divided eightfold.
- 7.5O mighty-armed Arjuna, this is the inferior Prakriti; know it as distinct from My higher Prakriti, the very life-element, by which this world is upheld.
- 7.6Know that these two are the womb of all beings; thus, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe.
- 7.7There is nothing higher than Me, O Arjuna. All this is strung on Me, like clusters of gems on a string.
- 7.8I am the flavor in water, O Arjuna; I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable Om in all the Vedas, sound in the ether and virility in men.
- 7.9I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the brilliance in the fire, the life in all beings, and I am the austerity of ascetics.
- 7.10Know Me, O Arjuna, as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent, and the splendour of the splendid objects.
- 7.11Of the strong, I am the strength devoid of desire and attachment, and in all beings, I am the desire in accordance with Dharma, O Arjuna.
- 7.12Whatever beings (and objects) that are pure, active, and inert, know that they proceed from Me. They are in Me, yet I am not in them.
- 7.13Deluded by these Natures, composed of the three qualities of Nature, all this world does not know Me as distinct from them and immutable.
- 7.14Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, composed of the three qualities, is difficult to cross over; those who take refuge in Me alone, can cross over this illusion.
Word-by-word→
- api
- even
- mām
- me
- vetti
- knows
- yatati
- strives
- siddhaye
- for perfection
- yatatām
- of those who strive
- kaśhchit
- someone
- siddhānām
- of those who have achieved perfection
- tattvataḥ
- in truth
- sahasreṣhu
- out of many thousands
- manuṣhyāṇām
- of men
Related verses
- 1.32I desire not victory, O Krishna, nor kingdom, nor pleasures. What use is dominion to us, O…
- 7.2I will declare to you in full this knowledge combined with realization, after knowing…
- 7.5O mighty-armed Arjuna, this is the inferior Prakriti; know it as distinct from My higher…
- 7.6Know that these two are the womb of all beings; thus, I am the source and dissolution of…