Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14, Verse 1

Chapter 14 – Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम् ।
यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनयः सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गताः ॥

Transliteration

śrībhagavānuvāca .
paraṃ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṃ jñānamuttamam .
yajjñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṃ siddhimito gatāḥ ॥

Meaning

The Blessed Lord said: I shall once again declare to you that supreme knowledge, the finest of all knowledge, by knowing which all the sages have passed from this world to the highest perfection.

Word meanings

श्रीभगवान् उवाच – the Blessed Lord said
परम् – supreme, highest
भूयः – again
प्रवक्ष्यामि – I shall declare fully
ज्ञानानाम् – of all knowledge
ज्ञानम् – knowledge
उत्तमम् – the best, the finest
यत् – which
ज्ञात्वा – having known
मुनयः – the sages, the contemplative ones
सर्वे – all
पराम् – the highest
सिद्धिम् – perfection, liberation
इतः – from here, from this bondage
गताः – have attained

Anvaya (word order)

श्रीभगवान् उवाच — ज्ञानानाम् उत्तमं परं ज्ञानं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि, यत् ज्ञात्वा सर्वे मुनयः इतः परां सिद्धिं गताः ।

Explanation

In the thirteenth chapter Krishna distinguished the field (prakriti, matter) from the knower of the field (purusha, the conscious Self), and remarked that it is attachment to the gunas of prakriti that causes the soul to be born in higher and lower wombs (13.21). That remark left an important question open: what exactly are these gunas, how do they bind, and how can one become free of them? The fourteenth chapter is Krishna's answer.

He begins with the words bhuyah pravakshyami, 'I shall declare again'. The teaching has already been touched on, yet it is so vital that the Lord chooses to unfold it once more in detail. A compassionate teacher repeats a saving truth from many angles until it settles in the student's heart.

Krishna calls this 'the best of all knowledge'. Shankara explains that knowledge of rituals, worlds and external objects cannot by itself free a person, whereas knowledge of the Self and of what binds it leads directly to liberation; hence it stands above every other kind of learning. Knowledge that identifies the cause of bondage and cuts it is truly 'supreme'.

The Lord praises the teaching by its fruit: knowing it, the sages went 'from here', from this embodied, repeating existence, to the highest perfection. Such praise is meant to awaken eager attention and faith in the listener, for without faith even the deepest teaching remains on the surface of the mind.

Context

Chapter 13 closed by saying that one who discerns the difference between the field and its knower reaches the Supreme. This opening verse of Chapter 14 continues that thread and introduces the subject of the three gunas. The next verse further describes the result of this knowledge: freedom from birth and dissolution.

Life lesson

The most valuable knowledge is the kind that shows us what binds us and how to be free. Deep truths need to be heard again and again, reflected upon and received with faith before they transform our lives.

Key terms

Param jnanam: Supreme knowledge — the liberating understanding of the Self, nature and the gunas
Muni: A sage, one given to deep contemplation
Para siddhi: The highest perfection — final liberation