After all these painful troubles, it may chance that we may get ‘Knowledge,’ but after one’s death one may again fall back to ‘ignorance’and come to repeat the same process. Even in our own life-time there have been many things learnt and experienced which we do not now remember. Similarly, this ‘Knowledge’ also may be lost to us in which case it will be indeed a great loss.

This doubt is fully cleared here by an assertive, confident declaration that after regaining this ‘Knowledge,’ “YOU SHALL NOT, O PANDAVA, AGAIN GET DELUDED LIKE THIS.” This declaration, rather fanatical in style, has to be, for the time being, accepted by all seekers. All teachers unanimously declare this idea and since they have no particular reason to deceive their generation, it is but intelligent that we should accept the truth of this declaration in good faith — till we come to confirm it in our own personal experience.

No doubt, an immature child can never understand the physical thrills of the nuptial chamber, and thereby it cannot be said that the newly-weds are always telling lies!! The little child has not matured enough even to feel sympathetically the thrills explained. Similarly, we, living in delusion, cannot UNDERSTAND the thrills of the transcendental, or EXPERIENCE its Eternal Nature — however vividly the teachers may explain, until we also grow to the required inner maturity.

By this rediscovery of the Self, Krishna promises that the Pandava Prince will thereafter be able to recognise the entire creation — constituted of the world of objects, emotions, and ideas — as nothing other than the Self, which is his own real Nature; which again is nothing other than ‘Me’, Lord Krishna, the Paramatman. Having for once realised the ocean, all the waves are recognised by the intelligent-eye as nothing but the ocean.

In this stanza, thus, tests of having realised “that Knowledge” — discussed in the previous stanzas, are given. It also indicates how long we must hold on to the apron of a true Guru. As long as we have not realised that the whole creation is nothing but our own Self, which is as divine and omnipotent as the Lord of Dwarka Himself, so long we cannot afford to leave our intimate relationship and complete dependence upon the Preceptor and Guide, the Guru.

MOREOVER, SEE HOW EXCELLENT ‘KNOWLEDGE’ IS:

Jnatva, knowing; yat, which-by acquiring which Knowledge imparted by them; O Pandava, na vasyasi, you will not come under; moham, delusion; punah, again; evam, in this way, in the way you have come under delusion now. Besides, yena, through which Knowledge; draksyasi, you will see directly; bhutani, all beings; asesena, without exception, counting from Brahma down to a clump of grass; atmani, in the Self, in the innermost Self, thus-‘These beings exist in me’ ; and atha, also; see that these are mayi. in Me, in Vasudeva, the supreme Lord. The purport is, ‘You will realize the identity of the individual Self and God, which is well known in the Upanisads.’ Moreover, the greatness of this Knowledge is: