यावानर्थ उदपाने सर्वतः सम्प्लुतोदके। तावान्सर्वेषु वेदेषु ब्राह्मणस्य विजानतः॥
yāvān artha udapāne sarvataḥ samplutodake / tāvān sarveṣu vedeṣu brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ
When you have the ocean, what need is there for a well? When you have Self-knowledge, the Vedas serve a smaller purpose.
Word by word (4)
- yāvān artha udapāne
- — as much use as there is in a well · The well analogy: the well is indispensable when it is the only water source. When the flood comes and water is everywhere, the well still exists but its unique necessity is gone.
- sarvataḥ samplutodake
- — when water flows on all sides / when there is a flood everywhere
- tāvān sarveṣu vedeṣu
- — so much is there in all the Vedas
- brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ
- — for the Brahmin who truly knows · 'Vijānataḥ' — one who knows directly (vi + jñā = to know thoroughly). Not intellectual knowledge but direct realization. The Vedas served as the well; direct knowledge is the flood.
'As much use as a well has when floodwater is available everywhere — so much use do all the Vedas hold for the Brahmin who truly knows.'
A modern analogy
The well is valuable when it's the only water source. When the monsoon comes and water is everywhere, the well doesn't disappear — but its unique necessity does. Similarly: the Vedas (scriptures, teachings, practices) are indispensable guides for those on the path. But for the one who has arrived — who has direct realization of the Atman — the scripture becomes one tool among many, no longer the indispensable source.
Take with you
- The analogy is respectful, not dismissive: the well still has water. The Vedas still have value. But their scope is put in perspective by something larger.
- This verse applies to the one who 'vijānataḥ' — the one who truly knows. Not a dismissal for beginners but a description of the completed state.
- The teaching: spiritual practice is a means, not an end. When the end is reached, the means are understood for what they were.
V46 extends the Vedic limitation argument of V42-45 into its most elegant form: the well analogy. The Vedas are compared to a well — valuable in the absence of a greater source, but superseded when the direct knowledge of Brahman (the 'samplutodaka' — floodwater of knowledge) is available. This is the Gita's sophisticated position on the Vedas: they are not rejected but contextualized. The Gita respects the Vedic tradition while pointing beyond it — because any genuine tradition is a pointer, and the Gita is pointing.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
As much use as there is in a well when water flows on all sides, so much is there in all the Vedas for a Brahmin who has the knowledge. [4]
As is the use of a well of water where there is a flood on all sides, so is the result of all Vedic literature to the Brahmin who has knowledge. [6]
As, when the flood is risen, men have no use for the well; so does the seer who knows have no use for all the scriptures. [7]
As much use as there is in a tank when there is a flood everywhere, so much is there in all the Vedas for a Brahmin who knows. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The faithful, devoted, sense-controlled person attains jñāna — and quickly reaches supreme peace.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
Satisfied by knowledge and realisation, senses mastered, gold and mud equally seen — this is the true steadfast yogi.
Noble are all — but the jñānī I regard as My very Self; with united mind, resting in Me alone as the supreme goal.