Verse 14.1

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 14.1:

परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानम् उत्तमम् ।
यज् ज्ञात्वा मुनयः सर्वे परां सिद्धिम् इतो गताः ॥ १ ॥

paraṃ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṃ jñānam uttamam |
yaj jñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṃ siddhim ito gatāḥ || 1 ||

śrī bhagavān uvāca–the all-opulent Supreme Lord said; param–the best; bhūyaḥ–further; pravakṣyāmi–I shall enunciate; jñānānām–amongst all forms of transcendental knowledge; jñānam–instructions on transcendental knowledge; uttamam–the best; yat–which; jñātvā–having understood; munayaḥ–the sages; sarve–all; parām–supreme; siddhim–liberation; itaḥ–from this (bondage to bodily identification); gatāḥ–have attained.

Śrī Bhagavān said: I shall impart to you further knowledge which transcends all other knowledge. The sages who have understood and followed these instructions have all attained ultimate liberation from bondage to the body.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

The three modes of nature are indeed the cause of bondage. This is inferred by their result. And bhakti causes the symptoms that destroy the three modes. This is being explained in the Fourteenth Chapter.

In the previous chapter it was stated, “kāraṇaṃ guṇa-saṅgo’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu–the living entity’s attachment to the modes of material nature is the cause of his taking birth in auspicious and inauspicious species” (Gītā 13.22). What are the guṇas, the binding modes of material nature? How is one associated with them? What is the result of this association? What are the symptoms of a person who is influenced by the guṇas, and how can he become free from them? Expecting these questions, Śrī Bhagavān is making a declaration in this verse beginning with paraṃ bhūyaḥ. In this way, He introduces the subjects that He will later elaborate on. The word jñānam means ‘that by which something is known’, or ‘instruction’, and param means ‘the best’.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

It is clearly described in the Thirteenth Chapter that in saintly association, even an ordinary person can become liberated from the bondage of material existence by knowing the fundamental truth (tattva) about the body and they who reside within the body, the jīva and Paramātmā. The living entity has become bound to this material world only by his association with the modes of material nature. In this chapter, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa extensively explains to His devotee Arjuna what the guṇas are, how they function, how they bind the living entity, and how the living entity can attain the supreme destination by becoming free from them. With this knowledge, many saintly persons (ṛṣis and munis) have attained perfection and reached the supreme destination. Even ordinary people have become transcendental to the modes of nature upon acquiring this knowledge, and they have attained the supreme status.