Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 55 (BG 18.55) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

18.55 भक्त्या by devotion? माम् Me? अभिजानाति (he) knows? यावान् what? यः who? च and? अस्मि (I) am? तत्त्वतः in truth? ततः then? माम् Me? तत्त्वतः in truth? ज्ञात्वा having known? विशते (he) enters? तत् that? अनन्तरम् afterwards.Commentary My devotee? O Arjuna? who has attained to union with Me through singleminded and unflinching devotion is verily My very Self. Devotion culminates in knowledge. Devotion begins with two and ends in one. ParaBhakti (supreme devotion) and Jnana are one. Devotion is the mother. Knowledge is the son. By devotion he knows that I am allpervading pure,consciousness he knows that I am nondual? unborn? decayless? causeless? selfluminous? indivisible? unchanging he knows that I am destitute of all the differences caused by the limiting adjuncts he knows that I am the support? source? womb? basis? and substratum of everything he knows that I am the ruler of all beings he knows that I am the Supreme Purusha? the controller of Maya? and that this world is a mere appearance. Thus knowing Me in truth or in essence? he enters into Me soon after attaining Selfknowledge.The act of knowing and the act of entering are not two distinct acts. Knowing is becoming. Knowing is attaining Selfknowledge. To know That is to become That. Entering is knowing or beoming That. Entering is the attainment of Selfknowledge or Selfrealisation. These are all jugglery of words only. Knowing and entering are synonymous terms. It is very difficult to understand or comprehend transcendental spiritual matters. The teachers use various terms or expressions? analogies? similes? parables? stories? etc. to make the aspirant grasp the matter clearly and lucidly. Words are imperfect and languages are defective. They cannot fully express the inner spiritual experiences. The teacher somehow or other expresses to the students or aspirants these spiritual ideas. The aspirant himself will have to realise the Self. That is beyond the reach of words of expressions or analogies of similes. How can there be similes for that nondual Brahman These words are a sort of help or prop for the aspirants to lean upon in the beginning to understand spiritual matters. When he realises the Self? these words are of no value to him. He himself becomes an embodiment of knowledge.

Commentaries

Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.

This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.

Modern

# BG 18.55 Supreme love for the Eternal Self—that is, complete unity with the Divine—constitutes the highest devotion. Through this supreme devotion alone can the sincere seeker truly comprehend the Eternal Self in its essential nature. Knowledge acquired through the study and hearing of scriptures tends to remain indirect and conceptual. Only when that knowledge transforms into direct experience—into lived wisdom—does genuine understanding of the Divine awaken. By the phrase "how vast I am," it is meant that through supreme devotion, the devoted seeker comes to understand the infinite manifestations of the Divine that flow from the Eternal Self. The glories and powers of the Divine have been described in the tenth chapter. By the phrase "what I am," the supreme devotee also comes to know that the true nature of the Divine transcends all limitations, is free from all qualities and distinctions. In essence, to know the Divine in truth means to comprehend both aspects of the Divine nature—that which pervades all existence and that which transcends all existence. We must remember that throughout the Bhagavad Gita, when Lord Krishna uses the word "I," he speaks from the perspective of his divine nature as the Eternal Self, not merely as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore, when he says the seeker "enters into me," this does not mean entering a dwelling place, but rather the seeker's direct realization of the Self. The true nature of the devotee's soul is not separate from the Divine nature of the Eternal Self. The entry spoken of here is like the dream-self merging into the waking person. The meaning of this verse is that a qualified seeker, through deep meditation and contemplation, experiences the Divine as one's own Self, not as something separate and distant. The service of God remains incomplete without the service of all living beings. The Divine declares: