raajavidya raajaguhyam pavitramidamuttamam |
pratyakshaavagamam dharmyam susukham kartumavyayam || 2 ||
This is royal knowledge, the royal secret, purifying, foremost, immediately perceived, righteous, effortless to perform, and imperishable.
raajavidya : royal knowledge
raajaguhyam : royal secret
pavitram : purifying
idam : this
uttamam : foremost
pratyaksha : immediate
avagamam : perception
dharmyam : righteousness
susukham : effortless
kartum : perform
avyayam : imperishable
Shri Krishna continues to glorify the theme of this chapter, which is the knowledge of Ishvara’s infinite nature. This shloka consists of a series of adjectives that highlight the extremely unique and special nature of the knowledge that he is about to reveal.
He begins by describing this knowledge as royal. It means that this knowledge is the king among any knowledge, it is foremost among any other kind of knowledge. As we saw in an earlier chapter, most knowledge we acquire in our life is “aparaa vidyaa”. It is related to something material and temporary. This chapter describes “paraa vidyaa”, knowledge of the absolute. Knowing this, we will ourselves become kings. We will never become subservient to anyone or anything, including our mind, body and senses.
This knowledge is the king of secrets. Ordinary secrets can give us happiness, wealth, power, a competitive advantage and so on, all of which are temporary and limited. But this secret yields eternal, infinite happiness.
Many scriptures describe rituals that act as purifiers that help us eliminate our sins. But this knowledge is the ultimate purifier because it eliminates the sinner, the root cause. As we have seen earlier, our ego creates the sense of doership and enjoyership, resulting in accumulation of merits and sins. But if our sense of doership is eliminated, all of our actions will be spontaneous and in tune with Ishvara’s will. The storehouse of our sins will be burnt away. Plus there will be no question of accumulating any more merits or sins.
Shri Krishna says that we will be able to immediately perceive or experience this knowledge. What does this mean? When we are a little hungry, we say “I think I am hungry”. But if we have not eaten for a while day, we automatically say “I am hungry” without any further thinking. This is what is meant by immediate and direct perception. There will be zero doubt in this knowledge.
This knowledge is aligned with dharma, the law that holds the universe together. Nowadays, many practices in the business world that were formerly legal are deemed illegal and vice versa. This happens because they are based on ever-changing laws. But this royal knowledge is in accordance with the universal law. It holds true at any point in time, anywhere in the world. Moreover, it will always result in joy, never in sorrow.
Finally, this knowledge is easy to assimilate, it does not require any special attributes in the person other than dedication and faith. While most things that take little effort yield temporary results, this knowledge results in permanent, eternal happiness.
Having provided a detailed description of the characteristics of this royal knowledge, Shri Krishna describes the fate of people who do not follow this teaching.
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