Verse 2.615

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

अभिधेयं न यद्वस्तु प्रत्ययश्च न ढौकते ।
नियुक्तोऽपि नियोगेन कथं तद् द्रष्टुमर्हति ॥ ६१५ ॥

abhidheyaṃ na yadvastu pratyayaśca na ḍhaukate |
niyukto'pi niyogena kathaṃ tad draṣṭumarhati || 615 ||

English translation of verse 2.615:

Though commanded by (a Vedic) injunction, how is it possible for one to see that Brahman, which cannot be denoted by words and which cognition, too, does not reach?

Notes:

This verse brings cut the futility of injunction with regard to the Self. What is the work of injunction with regard to the Self? Is an injunction required for the purpose of bringing the Self into existence? Or, is it required for the purpose of knowing the Self? Since the Self is ever-existent, it does not require to be brought into existence through human effort following the command of an injunction (ātmano niyogāpekṣā na svasattāsiddhaye yuktā, tadīyasattāyā nityatvāt). Since Brahman cannot be designated by words, and since cognition does not reach it, how can one see it even when one is commanded by means of a Vedic injunction? In short, Brahman-Ātman does not fall within the scope of an injunction.