इदम् ज्ञानम् उपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यम् आगताः । सर्गेऽपि नोपजायन्ते प्रलये न व्यथन्ति च ॥
idam jñānam upāśritya mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ | sarge'pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca ||
Those who resort to this knowledge attain My own nature — neither reborn at creation nor disturbed at dissolution.
Word by word (3)
- idam jñānam upāśritya
- — having taken refuge in (upāśritya) this knowledge (idam jñānam) — active resort, not passive hearing
- mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ
- — they have attained to My sādharmya — sameness of dharma/nature; becoming one in essence with Krishna
- sarge api nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca
- — not born even at creation (sarga); not disturbed even at dissolution (pralaya) — freedom from the cosmic cycle itself
Those who take refuge in this knowledge and attain unity with My very nature — they are not born again even at the moment of cosmic creation, nor are they disturbed at the time of universal dissolution.
A modern analogy
When you understand the mechanism of a dream — that it is only dream — you don't get reborn in the dream-world each night or panicked when the dream ends. Realizing the guṇa-mechanism liberates you from the cycle of sarga and pralaya.
The phalashruti (result-statement) comes at V2 before the teaching — a Vedic pedagogy device: state the benefit first so the student is motivated. The result: mama sādharmyam — attaining the Lord's own nature. This is non-different from mokṣa: liberation from the cosmic cycle of creation and dissolution. Those who understand the guṇas see through Prakṛti's creative/destructive alternation.
sādharmyam is stronger than sāyujya (closeness to God) — it means attaining the SAME dharma/nature as Krishna. For Advaita, this is ātman recognizing itself as Brahman. For Viśiṣṭādvaita (Rāmānuja), it is the liberated jīva sharing the divine ānanda. For Dvaita, sādharmyam is specific beatific qualities without absolute identity. All three schools agree on the liberation from sarga-pralaya cycle.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
They who, having resorted to this knowledge, have attained to unity with Me, are neither born in the creation, nor disturbed in the dissolution. [1]
[Truncated in index — 35 chars only] They who, having devoted themselves (to this knowledge and attained unity with Me) are neither born at creation nor troubled at dissolution. [4]
Those who, resorting to this knowledge, reach assimilation with my essence, are not born at the creation, and are not afflicted at the destruction of the universe. [9]
Resorting to this science, and attaining to my nature, they are not reborn even on the occasion of a new creation and are not disturbed at the universal dissolution. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Daivī wealth begins: abhaya, sattva-śuddhi, jñāna-yoga, dāna, dama, yajña, svādhyāya, tapa, ārjava.
The tattva-vit sees gunas moving among gunas and does not become attached. Knowledge itself produces liberation.
Krishna reopens with the supreme jñāna above all knowledge — knowing which every muni has reached parāṃ siddhim.
Sattva — luminous and stainless — yet binds the jīva through attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge.
Transcending the three guṇas, the embodied one is freed from birth-death-age-pain and attains immortality.
Free from these three tamas-gates, one acts for one's genuine good and reaches the Supreme Goal.