Verse 18.55
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
भक्त्या मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः | ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम् ||५५||
Transliteration (IAST)
bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ | tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśate tad-anantaram ||55||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
Through devotion he comes to know Me - what My extent is and who I am in truth. Then, having known Me in truth, he enters into Me immediately.
Commentary
This key verse declares that the ultimate knowledge of God comes only through bhakti. Shankaracharya explains that intellectual knowledge alone cannot reveal the full nature of the Divine - only love can penetrate the mystery. Ramanuja considers this the supreme statement on bhakti: devotion alone grants the vision of God's true nature, after which the soul enters eternal communion with the Lord.