ज्ञानं तेऽहं सविज्ञानमिदं वक्ष्याम्यशेषतः | यज्ज्ञात्वा नेह भूयोऽन्यज्ज्ञातव्यमवशिष्यते ||२||
jñānaṃ te'haṃ sa-vijñānam idaṃ vakṣyāmy aśeṣataḥ | yaj jñātvā neha bhūyo'nyaj jñātavyam avaśiṣyate || 2 ||
I shall declare knowledge and experiential wisdom — knowing which, nothing more remains to be known in this world.
Word by word (3)
- jñānaṃ te ahaṃ sa-vijñānam idaṃ vakṣyāmi aśeṣataḥ
- — I shall declare to you this knowledge together with wisdom, completely without remainder · jñānam = knowledge (theoretical, conceptual knowledge — knowledge OF the Divine, understanding the structure). te = to you (dative — personal, addressed to Arjuna). aham = I (emphatic — Krishna himself will declare it). sa-vijñānam = together with vijñāna (sa = with, together; vijñāna = experiential/realized wisdom, direct knowing — the vi-prefix adds the sense of 'special, direct, fully processed'). The jñāna/vijñāna pair is crucial: jñāna is theoretical understanding; vijñāna is the lived realization of that understanding. Krishna will give BOTH — the intellectual map (jñāna) and the experiential territory (vijñāna). idaṃ = this (the teaching about to be given). vakṣyāmi = I shall declare (future tense — emphatic commitment). aśeṣataḥ = without remainder, completely (a-śeṣa = without remainder; the entire teaching, nothing held back).
- yat jñātvā na iha bhūyaḥ anyat jñātavyam avaśiṣyate
- — knowing which, nothing more here remains to be known · yat = which (relative pronoun — the knowledge just promised). jñātvā = having known (gerund of √jñā). na = not. iha = here (in this world). bhūyaḥ = more (comparative adverb — 'anything more'). anyat = other (anything else). jñātavyam = that which should/needs to be known (gerundive of √jñā — 'the knowable'). avaśiṣyate = remains (passive of ava + √śiṣ — what is left over). The claim is absolute: after knowing what Krishna is about to declare, nothing MORE remains to be known. This is the most comprehensive knowledge possible. It is not a specific subject that will be taught (cosmology, metaphysics, ethics) — it is the knowledge of the knowing ground itself, knowing which all else is understood.
- jñāna / vijñāna (the chapter's defining pair)
- — theoretical knowledge + experiential realization — the two aspects Krishna will declare together · The jñāna-vijñāna pair gives the chapter its name and defines its teaching strategy. Jñāna is the śāstric (scriptural/theoretical) knowledge — understanding what the Absolute is, what the universe is, what the soul is, what their relationship is. Vijñāna is the direct, lived realization of that understanding — not just knowing about the ocean but having swum in it. Ch.7's teaching (V4-30) weaves both: V4-6 (aparā/parā prakṛti) is jñāna; V7-12 (Krishna as the essence of everything — the taste in water, the light in sun) is vijñāna given as instruction. Together they constitute the 'sa-vijñānam' promised in V2.
Krishna promises to declare BOTH jñāna (conceptual knowledge of the Divine) AND vijñāna (experiential, direct realization of that knowledge) — and declares that knowing this, nothing more will remain to be known. Ch.7-12 is the delivery of this double promise.
A modern analogy
Learning the fundamental principles of mathematics means you can derive everything else. You don't need to memorise every theorem separately once you understand the foundational axioms and methods. V2's 'nothing more to be known' is like that — the teaching is of the root-knowledge from which all other understanding naturally flows.
What it does NOT mean
V2 does NOT promise omniscience in the academic sense — knowing all facts about all subjects. 'Nothing more to be known' refers to the foundational knowledge of reality itself (the Divine, the world, the self). Knowing THAT, everything else falls into its proper place. It is completeness of orientation, not encyclopedic coverage.
Take with you
- V2 distinguishes jñāna (knowing about) from vijñāna (direct knowing). Spiritual maturity requires both: the map (jñāna) to orient oneself, and the territory (vijñāna) lived directly. Ch.7 gives both.
- The completeness promised ('nothing more remains to be known') is the Gita's answer to the question of what full spiritual knowledge looks like. It is not more information — it is the knowledge of the knowing ground itself.
- V2 is a promise AND a standard. If after studying the Gita one still has fundamental doubt about the nature of reality and the Divine, investigate which of jñāna or vijñāna is missing. Usually it is vijñāna — the lived practice component.
V2 is the chapter's programmatic statement: it announces the dual teaching of jñāna and vijñāna and the completeness of what will follow. The word 'aśeṣataḥ' (without remainder) reinforces that this is not a partial teaching: the entire knowledge of Krishna's nature will be given. The jñāna-vijñāna distinction is one of the most important in Vedanta. Shankaracharya glosses vijñāna as the special, direct knowledge of Brahman as one's own self (ātman-jñāna). Rāmānuja reads vijñāna as devotional wisdom — the direct apprehension of the Lord as the supreme Personal Being. Both traditions agree on the structure: jñāna is conceptual; vijñāna is the lived, realized dimension. 'Knowing which, nothing more remains to be known' is the Gita's formulation of what Vedanta calls mokṣa-jñāna — the liberating knowledge. It is not additive (learning one more thing) but completive: it transforms the knower's relationship to knowledge itself.
Advaita lens
For Shankaracharya, the 'nothing more to be known' is ātman-knowledge: once the non-dual nature of ātman-Brahman is directly realized, all apparent multiplicity is understood as Brahman's self-appearance. The vijñāna of V2 is this direct realization. Jñāna is the śāstric understanding that prepares for it; vijñāna is the realization itself.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti traditions (Rāmānuja, Madhva), the 'nothing more to be known' is the complete knowledge of the Lord in all his aspects: his nature (svabhāva), his qualities (guṇas), his relationship to the world (vibhūti), and his devotee-relationship (bhakta-bhāva). This knowledge, direct and complete, is what Ch.7-12 provides.
Karma-Yoga lens
For the karma yogi, V2's jñāna-vijñāna gives the understanding that makes action complete. Jñāna = knowing the structure of action, consequence, and liberation. Vijñāna = acting FROM that understanding rather than about it. V2's promise is that this integrated knowing makes action truly free.
Modern parallels
The distinction between 'knowing that' (propositional knowledge) and 'knowing how' (procedural knowledge) in epistemology parallels jñāna/vijñāna. A musician 'knows that' music theory works a certain way (jñāna) and 'knows how' to play with feeling and skill (vijñāna). V2 promises both the propositional and the procedural — the complete teaching.
Practice
V2 as contemplation: at the start of a session, hold the question 'What is the knowledge that, once known, leaves nothing more to be known?' Let this question open the session rather than answering it immediately. The question itself orients the attention toward the foundational rather than the derivative.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
I shall declare to you this knowledge together with vijñāna, completely — knowing which, nothing more here remains to be known. [1]
I shall tell you in full, of knowledge, speculative and practical, knowing which, nothing more here remains to be known. [4]
I will declare to thee, without omission, knowledge and wisdom, knowing which, nothing further here in the world remains to be known. [5]
I will declare to thee, without omission, this wisdom together with practical knowledge, having known which, nothing further remains to be known. [6]
I will declare to thee that last lore, the uttermost of wisdom, which, being known, nothing else remaineth for man to know. [7]
I will fully declare to thee knowledge and wisdom, knowing which, nothing further here remains to be known. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
With mind attached, practising yoga, taking refuge in Me — hear how you shall know Me fully, without doubt.
I shall declare the most secret knowledge with realization to you who do not cavil — knowing it frees you from all evil.
This body is called kṣetra (the field); the one who knows it is called kṣetrajña — the field-knower!
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
Your body changed from childhood to age without 'you' dying — changing bodies is no different.
The wisdom-yoked person rises above good and bad karma alike. Yoga is supreme skill in action.