Verse 54
यल्लाभान्नापरो लाभो यत्सुखान्नापरं सुखम् ।
यज्ज्ञानान्नापरं ज्ञानं तद्ब्रह्मेत्यवधारयेत् ॥ ५४॥
YAL LAABHAAN NA APAROH LAABHOH
YAT SUKHAAN NA APARAM SUKHAM
YAJ JNAANAAN NA APARAM JNAANAM
TAT BRAHMA ITI AVA DHAARAYET
[Apart from this attainment there is no other, apart from this
blessedness there is no other, apart from this knowledge there is no other. Realize
That (Attainment, Blessedness or Bliss, existence as that knowledge) to be
Brahman.]
The realization of Self is explained here as
the greatest gain, the greatest knowledge having gained which, there is no more
a sense of incompleteness.
Having enjoyed the bliss of Self, none will
strive for a greater bliss, having known which, there will be never any thirst
to know anything more.
Something new is sought out for gained only
when there is imperfection or incompleteness. It is only when there is a sense
of dissatisfaction that one tries to gain more happiness or more knowledge or
something higher.
A Jiva, once born, fails to know / realize
that he is absolute SELF and he takes himself to be this little body, mind and
intellect.
With this mistaken identity, he runs hither
and thither, from pillar to post, from one relationship to another, from one
attainment to another attainment, from one knowledge to another knowledge, from
one source of happiness to another source of happiness.
Imperfection thus is only for the limited
egoistic Jiva. When the jiva rediscovers itself to be the absolute Self or
Brahman, all imperfections are understood or known to be mere illusions and all
struggles are ended.
The great sage Yajnavalkya instructs the same
import to Janaka in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV-iii-32 thus:-
“It becomes (transparent) like water, one, the witness, and without a
second. This is the sphere (state) of Brahman, O Emperor”
Thus did Yajnavalkya instruct Janaka:-
“This is its supreme attainment, this is its supreme glory, this is its
highest world, this is its supreme bliss. On a particle of this very bliss
other beings live.”
Lord also explains such a liberated one in
Gita second chapter as:
PRAJAHAATI YADAA KAAMAANSARVAANPAARTHA MANOGATAAN.H
AATMANYEVAATMANAA TUSHHTAH STHITAPRAGYASTADOCHYATE...
“When a man, satisfied in the Self alone by himself, completely casts
off all the desires of the mind, then is he said to be one of steady knowledge”.
DUHKHESHHVANUDVIGNAMANAAH
SUKHESHHU VIGATASPRIHAH.
VIITARAAGABHAYAKRODHAH STHITADHIIRMUNIRUCHYATE.
“He, whose heart is not distressed in calamities, from whom all longing
for pleasures has departed, who is free from attachment, fear and wrath, he is
called a sage, a man of steady knowledge.”
When the absolute is realized as Self,
nothing else remains to be sought after. That absoluteness or perfection or
completeness, knowing which everything becomes known, is indicated here by
Acharya as Brahman.
There is no greater knowledge than
this knowledge of the Brahman, (or, can we say, as the knowledge as Brahman,
because SELF is Pure Knowledge itself and knowledge of anything external)
There is no greater sukham (Supreme Ananda or Bliss) than the sukham realized from Atma Jnanam.
There is no greater gain in life than Brahma Jnanam
Thus, the highest goal of any one’s life is to strive for such Atma Jnanam.
Love.
