Chapter 13Verse 17 of 34

Bhagavad Gita 13.17

ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमसः परमुच्यते। ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं ज्ञानगम्यं हृदि सर्वस्य विष्ठितम्॥

jyotiṣām api taj jyotis tamasaḥ param ucyate jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ jñāna-gamyaṁ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam

Translation

It is said to be the light of lights, beyond darkness. It is knowledge, the object of knowledge, attainable by knowledge; seated in the heart of every being.

The peak of the jneyam description. Jyotisham api taj jyotih. Whatever lights anything else is lit by this. Sun, fire, mind, all derive their illuminating power from a deeper illumination. Param ucyate, beyond darkness. The triple identification follows: jnana, jneyam, jnana-gamyam. The supreme is knowledge itself, the object of knowledge, and the means by which knowledge proceeds. Knower, known, knowing collapse. Then the closing phrase that the entire chapter has been building toward: hridi sarvasya vishthitam. Seated in the heart of every being. Not somewhere else. Right here. The mystical and the immediate close into a single statement. Today, whenever you remember, place attention where the verse places brahman.

Reflection

When you remember, place attention where this verse places brahman.

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Thirteen

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