The Sovereign Mystery
sribhagavan uvaca
1. idam tu to guhyatamam
pravaksyamy an asuyave
jnana vijnanasahitam
vaj jnatva moksyase 'sunhat
The Blessed Lord said:
(1) To Thee, who dost not cavil, I shall declare this pro-found secret of wisdom combined with knowledge, by knowing which thou shalt be released from evil.
vijnanasahitarn, anubhavayuktam. . We take jnana, however, as meaning wisdom and vijnana as detailed knowledge. If the former is metaphysical truth, the latter is scientific knowledge. We have at our disposal these different and complementary means of obtaining truth, an intuitive as well as an intellectual expansion of the human mind. We must acquire wisdom and knowledge, penetration of reality and a profound grasp of the nature of things. The philosophers prove that God exists but their know-edge of God is indirect; the seers proclaim that they have felt the reality of God in the depths of their soul and their knowledge is direct.[1] See III, 41; VI, 8.
2. rajavidya rajaguhyam
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyaksavagamam dharmya
susukham kartum avyayam
(2) This is sovereign knowledge, sovereign secret, supreme sanctity, known by direct experience, in accord with the law, very easy to practise and imperishable.
rdjavidya, rd rajagnhyam ; literally king-knowledge, king-secret, the greatest wisdom, the greatest secret.
pratyaksavagamam. It Is not a matter for argument but is verified by direct experience. It is knowledge by acquaintance and not by description, hearsay or report. The truth is there shining by its own light, waiting to be seen by us, if the obstructing veils are removed. The Supreme is to be seen by one as one's own self, through one's developed and purified intuition.[2] Cp pratibodhaviditam.
Kena Up., II, 12.
3. agraddadhanah Purusa
dharmasya 'sya paramtapa
apraaya mam nivartante
mrtyusamsaravartmani
(3) Men who have no faith in this way, not attaining to Me, O Oppressor of the foe (Arjuna), return to the path of mortal living (samsara).
The sovereign knowledge is the identity of Krsna, the Incarnate Lord, with Brahman the source of all. Final illumination will dawn on us if we worship the Incarnate with this knowledge. The direct contemplation of the Absolute is more difficult. Because Arjuna is a man of faith, he is taught this secret. The faithless who do not accept it, do not gain release but return to birth again. The faith demanded is the faith in the reality of saving wisdom and man's capacity to attain it. The first step to grow into the freedom of the Divine is faith in the Godhead in us, which supports our being and action. When we surrender ourselves to that inner Divine, the practice of yoga becomes easy.
