Sanskrit
यज्ज्ञात्वा न पुनर्मोहमेवं यास्यसि पाण्डव । येन भूतान्यशेषेण द्रक्ष्यस्यात्मन्यथो मयि ॥
yaj jñātvā na punar moham evaṃ yāsyasi pāṇḍava yena bhūtāny aśeṣeṇa drakṣyasy ātmany atho mayi
Translation
And having known this, thou shalt not again fall into this confusion, O Pândava; for by this thou wilt see all beings without exception in the Self, and thus in Me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The promised effect of that instruction is total: no more falling into confusion, moha, and a vision of every being without exception located first in the Self and, through that, in Krishna. The word moha reaches all the way back to Arjuna’s own condition in Chapter 1 — the paralysis of grief and confusion that opened the entire dialogue — and this verse quietly promises that the jñāna being described across this chapter is the cure for that specific collapse, not for confusion in some generic, abstract sense. Seeing all beings in the ātman, then in me is the two-step the Gita keeps returning to: the impersonal ground first, the personal Lord through it. It anticipates the vision of BG 6.29–BG 6.30.
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Word by word
- yaj jñātvā na punar mohamयज् ज्ञात्वा न पुनः मोहं
- knowing which you will not fall again into delusion (yat + jñātvā + na + punaḥ + moham)
- evaṃ yāsyasi pāṇḍavaएवं यास्यसि पाण्डव
- thus, O Pāṇḍava (evam + yāsyasi + pāṇḍava)
- yena bhūtāny aśeṣeṇaयेन भूतान्य् अशेषेण
- by which [you will see] all beings without exception (yena + bhūtāni + aśeṣeṇa)
- drakṣyasy ātmany atho mayiद्रक्ष्यस्य् आत्मन्य् अथो मयि
- you will see [them] in the Self, and then in me (drakṣyasi + ātmani + atho + mayi)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The vision is given in a specific order — first ātmani, in the Self, and only then mayi, in Me — not the reverse. Whatever this knowledge is, it doesn’t route through Krishna first and arrive at the self as a byproduct; it discovers the self first, and finding Krishna there is what follows. The sequence matters as much as the destination: this isn’t devotion substituting for self-knowledge, it’s self-knowledge opening onto devotion.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you're trying to resolve a long-running confusion, don't skip straight to the bigger external answer — a cause, a community, a relationship — before doing the quieter work of understanding yourself first; this verse gives the vision in that specific order, self before anything found through the self.
Professional
- Before you look to a mentor, a company mission, or a team's culture to resolve your sense of direction at work, get clear on your own values and reasoning first — external alignment tends to hold better once it's built on a foundation you actually understand, rather than substituting for it.
Family & Social
- Before expecting a relationship to resolve a confusion in you, do the quieter work of understanding your own needs first — connection with someone else tends to deepen a self-understanding you already have, rather than substitute for the work of building one.
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