Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 2 (BG 10.2) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

When we cannot acquire knowledge through direct evidence or experience, we seek to understand it from those who are knowledgeable in that subject. Such persons are called aptapurusha—the trustworthy and realized ones. However, even this indirect method of self-instruction in the realm of brahmavidya is difficult. Why? The Lord says: Neither the celestial beings nor the great sages know My origin. Later, Lord Sri Krishna Himself will clarify what He precisely means by the term maharshi. These great sages are not the seven rishis—such as Bhrigu and others—mentioned in the Puranas. The philosophical meaning of the seven rishis is as follows: When the infinite Brahman, appearing to identify itself with the collective intellect (mahat tattva), manifests its own personality (ahamkara), it then projects or expresses itself within the objective world for its own bliss. In truth, these objects of experience are subtle in nature, called tanmatras. All of these are named in the Puranas as the seven rishis, given various designations. These seven rishis are the mahat tattva, ahamkara, and the five tanmatras. In the Puranas, they have been given human forms. Collectively, these seven rishis are symbols of the intellectual and mental life of humanity and of the instrumental and material causes of creation. The word deva (sura) does not here mean "inhabitant of heaven," though that meaning is also possible. The word deva comes from the root dyu, which means "to illuminate." Therefore, our sense organs themselves are those devas that illuminate the objects for our countless experiences. Hence, it is fitting to say: I, the consciousness-embodied Self, am the primordial cause of all the celestial beings and the great sages. In other words, the atman is the substratum of our gross and subtle, physical and mental life. Although they remain established in this true Self, they cannot know My manifestation. The conscious atman dwells in our heart as the witness. Therefore, it can never become an object of perception by the senses, nor an object of feeling by the mind, nor an object of knowledge by the intellect. Then, is it true that no one can have knowledge and experience of this atman, the primordial cause of the entire universe? To dispel such doubt, the Lord says—