Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 34 (BG 4.34) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 4.34 To attain the supreme purpose of life, the teaching of knowledge is indispensable. This verse describes the qualities with which a teacher must be endowed in order to impart such knowledge. It also describes the disposition and intellectual capacity that a student must possess in order to benefit fully from the teacher's instruction. By prostration is meant not merely the physical act of full obeisance, but rather the student's spirit of surrender, humility, respect, and obedience toward the teacher. Generally, people are in complete ignorance about their own nature. They neither understand the tendencies of their own mind nor the discipline of mental restraint. Therefore, it becomes necessary for them to remain in the presence of the teacher, always ready to understand the teachings given and to conduct themselves accordingly. Just as water naturally flows from higher to lower ground, so too does knowledge flow from the enlightened teacher to the inquiring student. Therefore, the student must possess humility so that they may receive the teaching exactly as it is given. Through questioning, we unlock the treasury of knowledge contained within the teacher's intellect. A skilled teacher understands the student's intellectual level from their questions alone. While correcting errors in the student's thinking, the teacher naturally guides their thoughts in the right direction. Through this dialogue of questions and answers, the student comes to share in the teacher's perfection. This is why the tradition of question and answer between teacher and student has existed since ancient times in Hindu dharma, known as satsang. Not all religions grant students this special privilege. In truth, only Vedantic philosophy grants our intellect complete freedom. Its practice does not rest upon blind faith in seekers. Because other religions place excessive importance on faith, their scriptures contain many intellectual errors for which no satisfactory answers are found. Therefore, their religious teachers find it necessary to deprive seekers of the right to ask questions about scripture. Service does not merely mean offering fruits, flowers, and sweets to the teacher. Although this is what is understood as service in religious institutions and ashrams today. True service to the teacher consists in receiving the teacher's instruction and making sincere effort to live according to it. No greater service is possible than this. For a teacher to impart knowledge to students, two principal qualities are essential: (a) complete knowledge of spiritual scriptures, and (b) firm establishment in the direct realization of the infinite, ultimate truth. These two qualities are indicated in this verse by the terms "knower" and "seer of truth" respectively. Mere bookish knowledge may produce a learned scholar, but not a worthy teacher. A person of self-realization who is unfamiliar with scriptures will remain silent, for they cannot express their direct experience in words that transcend language itself. Therefore, the teacher must be both learned in scripture and established in Brahman. The Lord's intention in the above statement is that knowledge imparted by a teacher who is both wise and a seer of truth bears fruit, while other knowledge does not. Thus the following statement too is true: