Verse 7.3
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्चिद्यतति सिद्धये | यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मां वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ||३||
Transliteration (IAST)
manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścidyatati siddhaye | yatatāmapi siddhānāṁ kaścinmāṁ vetti tattvataḥ ||3||
Word-by-Word Meanings
मनुष्याणाम्-among humans
सहस्रेषु-among thousands
कश्चित्-someone
यतति-strives
सिद्धये-for perfection
तत्त्वतः-in truth
Translation
Among thousands of men, scarcely one strives for perfection; and among those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows Me in truth.
Commentary
This verse establishes the rarity of true divine knowledge. Shankaracharya interprets this as showing the progressive difficulty: first spiritual aspiration is rare, then success is rarer still, and knowing God in essence (tattvataḥ) is the rarest achievement of all.
Themes
jnanamoksha