Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 55
भक्त्या मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः । ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम्
bhaktyā māmabhijānāti yāvānyaścāsmi tattvataḥ | tato māṃ tattvato jñātvā viśate tadanantaram
Translation
By Devotion he knows Me in truth, what and who I am; then, knowing Me in truth, he forthwith enters into Me.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- bhaktyā
- by devotion
- mām
- me
- abhijānāti
- (he) knows
- yāvān
- how much
- yaḥ
- who
- ca
- and
- asmi
- (I) am
- tattvataḥ
- essentially
- tataḥ
- thence
- mām
- me
- tattvataḥ
- essentially
- jñātvā
- having known
- viśate
- (he) enters
- tadanantaram
- afterwards
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
By Bhakti, by the Devotion of Knowledge, he knows Me as I am in the divers manifestations caused by upādhis. He knows who I am, he knows that I am devoid of all the differences caused by the upādhis, that I am the Supreme Puruṣa, that I am like unto ākāśa; he knows Me to be non-dual, the one Consciousness (Chaitanya), pure and simple, unborn, undecaying, undying, fearless, deathless. Thus knowing Me in truth, he enters into Myself immediately after attaining knowledge. The act of knowing and the act of entering are not two distinct acts.