Verse 15.20

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 15.20:

इति गुह्यतमं शास्त्रम् इदम् उक्तं मयानघ ।
एतद् बुद्ध्वा बुद्धिमान् स्यात् कृत-कृत्यश् च भारत ॥ २० ॥

iti guhyatamaṃ śāstram idam uktaṃ mayānagha |
etad buddhvā buddhimān syāt kṛta-kṛtyaś ca bhārata || 20 ||

iti–in this way; guhyatamam–most confidential; śāstram–scripture; idam–this; uktam–has been spoken; mayā–by Me; anagha–O sinless one; etat–this; buddhvā–having understood; buddhimān–enlightened; syāt–one becomes; kṛta-kṛtyaḥ–completely fulfilled; ca–and; bhārata–O Bhārata.

O sinless descendant of Bharata, I have hereby revealed the most confidential secret of the Vedic scriptures, understanding which, intelligent persons can become even more blessed.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

Śrī Bhagavān is concluding this chapter with this verse beginning with iti. He says, “In these twenty verses, I have fully expounded the most secret teachings of the scriptures.” After deliberation on spirit and matter in this chapter, it is concluded that among the threefold manifestations of akṣara-puruṣa, Puruṣottama Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Reality.

Thus ends the bhāvānuvāda of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s
Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā (the commentary that gives pleasure
to the devotees and is accepted by all saintly persons)
on the Fifteenth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

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

In concluding this subject, Śrī Bhagavān says that the part of scripture delineating puruṣottama-yoga, as described in this chapter, contains the most confidential knowledge. The import of this statement is that no one except the devotees can comprehend this knowledge. Since Arjuna is a very dear devotee of Bhagavān, Śrī Bhagavān is revealing knowledge of this most confidential reality to him only. The lives of those who are able to attain knowledge of this confidential truth by the mercy of the devotees are blessed.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “O sinless one, this puruṣottama-yoga is indeed the most confidential instruction in the scriptures. Upon knowing it, an intelligent jīva becomes enlightened and blessed. O Bhārata, all impediments in connection with the proper understanding of āśraya (the abode of bhakti, the living entity) and viṣaya (the object of bhakti, Bhagavān) are dispelled when one understands this yoga. Bhakti is the blissful activity of the soul. To correctly execute the process of bhakti, two factors are most necessary: the purity of the living entity, who is the abode of devotion, and the complete manifestation of Bhagavān, who is the object of devotion. As long as the jīva believes that brahma and Paramātmā are equal to Bhagavān (bhagavat-tattva), he cannot adopt the process of pure devotion. The process of bhakti is executed in its purest form only when he realizes Śrī Kṛṣṇa as Puruṣottama and the highest Reality.

“In bhakti-yoga, during the stage of sādhana, four great anarthas (hindrances to one’s spiritual goal) are to be removed by the power of taking shelter of the Lord, that is, performing the limbs of pure devotion, and by sādhu-saṅga. Of these four, the third is hṛdaya-daurbalya, or weakness of heart, which arises from attachment to the material world. Within hṛdaya-daurbalya, the jīva’s first weakness of heart is his desire to enjoy the material energy by misusing the freedom that Bhagavān bestowed upon him in his pure condition. Later on, while wandering in the material world, he develops his second weakness of heart, which is an attachment to sense objects. All other anarthas are generated from these two weaknesses of heart.” The first five verses explain the characteristics of pure renunciation that destroy these weaknesses. From the sixth verse to the end of this chapter a deliberation on the fundamental truth of the Supreme Person, along with appropriate renunciation (yukta-vairāgya), which is generated from bhakti, is given. This chapter describes the difference between inert matter and spirit and presents a deliberation on different manifestations of conscious Reality.

Thus ends the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja,
on the Fifteenth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.