Chapter 18 · Verse 21·Spoken by Krishna
पृथक्त्वेन तु यज्ज्ञानं नानाभावान्पृथग्विधान्।वेत्ति सर्वेषु भूतेषु तज्ज्ञानं विद्धि राजसम्
pṛithaktvena tu yaj jñānaṁ nānā-bhāvān pṛithag-vidhān vetti sarveṣhu bhūteṣhu taj jñānaṁ viddhi rājasam
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Sanskrit recitation by Swami Brahmānanda
Audio from the Gītā Supersite, IIT Kanpur
Word by Word
Reading set · 5 translations · 3 commentaries
Translation · 5 voices
But know that knowledge to originate from rajas, which amidst all things apprehends the different entities of various kinds as distinct [as possessing distinct selves].
Swami Gambiranandaafter Śaṅkara's bhāṣya· paired with Śaṅkara
But that knowledge which sees all beings, due to their individual nature, as distinct entities—know that knowledge to be Rajasic.
Swami Adidevanandaafter Rāmānuja's bhāṣya· paired with Rāmānuja
That instrument of knowledge, by means of which one considers the varied natures of different sorts in all beings as truly distinct—that is regarded to be of the Rajas strand.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayanafter Madhva's bhāṣya· paired with Madhva
But that knowledge which sees in all beings various entities of distinct kinds as being distinct from one another, know thou that knowledge to be Rajasic.
Swami SivanandaThe Bhagavad Gita
The knowledge that perceives the manifold existence in all beings as separate comes from passion.
Shri Purohit SwamiThe Geeta
But the knowledge by which one knows, in all beings, distinct selves of various kinds, separate, of separate sorts, of separate marks, body by body, since knowledge cannot itself be an agent the phrase means 'the knowledge by which one knows', know that knowledge to be of rajas, born of the quality of rajas.
Contemporary English rendering of the Sanskrit bhāṣya, pending scholar review.
The knowledge that, in all beings, brahmins and the rest, knows the states called the self, by way of separateness in the brahmin-form and the rest, as manifold, and, by way of the separateness of fair, tall, and the rest, as of various sorts, and as fit for connection with fruit and the rest, in the hour of the qualification for action, know that knowledge to be rajasic.
Contemporary English rendering of the Sanskrit bhāṣya, pending scholar review.
This is a brief sub-gloss. For a fuller reading of this verse, see Madhusūdana, Śaṅkara, or Rāmānuja above.
Madhvacharya does not comment on this verse.
Contemporary English rendering of the Sanskrit bhāṣya, pending scholar review.