📿 Shloka Collection

Na Hi Jnanena Sadrisham

Gita 4.38 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4 — Gyana Karma Sannyasa Yoga
न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते ।
तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति ॥
Na hi jnanena sadrisham pavitram iha vidyate
Tat svayam yoga-samsiddhah kalenatmani vindati
न हि
there is not
ज्ञानेन
to knowledge
सदृशम्
equal
पवित्रम्
purifier
इह
in this world
विद्यते
exists
तत्
that knowledge
स्वयम्
oneself
योगसंसिद्धः
one perfected in yoga
कालेन
in due course of time
आत्मनि
within oneself
विन्दति
discovers

Water lies beneath the earth. Dig a well in the right spot and it rises to meet you. Krishna says: there is nothing in this world as purifying as knowledge. And this knowledge is not imported from outside — the one who is perfected in yoga discovers it within, in due time.

The reassurance here is twofold. First, knowledge is the supreme purifier — nothing else comes close. Second, it already exists within. The seeker does not need to go to the ends of the earth. Patient, steady practice reveals what was always there, waiting beneath the surface.

Shloka 4.37 described knowledge as fire that burns all karma. Here Krishna goes further: knowledge is the greatest purifier in existence, and it is found within through yoga.

The next shloka (4.39) names the three qualities needed to attain this knowledge: faith, dedication, and mastery of the senses.

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