Knowledge and Perfection

In Shloka (verse) 38 of Chapter IV of Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna categorically exudes the supremacy of divine knowledge, the pure wisdom. He says:

न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते।

तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति।।4.38।।

na hi jñānena sadṛiśhaṁ pavitramiha vidyate I

tatsvayaṁ yogasansiddhaḥ kālenātmani vindati II4.38II

Meaning in Hindi:

इस मनुष्य लोक में ज्ञान के समान पवित्र करने वाला दूसरा कोई साधन नहीं है। जिसका योग भली भाँति सिद्ध हो गया है वह कर्मयोगी उस तत्त्व ज्ञान को अवश्य ही स्वयं अपने आप में पा लेता है।

Meaning in English:

In this world, there is nothing so purifying, sublime and sanctifying as the transcendental knowledge, the gyana the wisdom. Such knowledge is the ultimate elemental fruit of all spirituality. And one who has achieved this fruit; he/she enjoys the self within himself in due course of time.

In a normal human being, the truth, the divine knowledge though present inherently but is clouded by the illusion (Maya) of the physical world which is ignorance. He/she sees only the outer world, the body as the reality and missing the inner element, the force or the cause behind all manifestations. One washes his clothes and body with water and soaps all that is good for body. But for the inner being, which is the cause of all the externals, the only purifying agent is knowledge, the wisdom. By practicing Yoga, a Yogi in due course of time is able to free his/her consciousness from the body perception and he/she realizes the pure wisdom, the Self, the Soul. By the constant Yogic practice, a moment comes when the veil of ignorance, the covering falls off and the purest wisdom, the unpolluted flame of light is manifested. Lord Krishna says that there is nothing so sublime, pure and sanctifying as the pure wisdom, the transcendental knowledge in this world.  When one wanders in darkness of ignorance, he/she is bound to face troubles, ups and downs in the path, can even meet accidents and injure him/her if he/she is not guided by an aid. When the light of this pure knowledge, the wisdom manifest by practice of Yoga, the Yogi is able to remove the darkness step by step and in due course of time, his/her path is fully illuminated by wisdom removing the darkness instantly. Such Yogi achieves the spontaneous enlightenment of union of the Soul with Spirit and he/she will manifest the Infinite.

In the modern physical world also, the knowledge is given very high place. It is said that the Knowledge is Power. Only those people succeed in life who possess knowledge. Only those people succeed who know the truth. The knowledge is the truth, the truth is the wisdom and the wisdom is enlightenment, the gate way to reach the Spirit through self, the true nature of the shelf. In our day to day life, when we go to schools to gain knowledge; we actually seek to manifest the knowledge present within us. We unlearn to learn the knowledge within. We unlearn to learn the truth within. We can acquire education and learn the knowledge only when there is the fire within to learn. Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu Philosopher, thinker and Yogi called the education as “assimilation of ideas” However, the knowledge which is mostly available today in schools and universities is merely bookish knowledge. But this is not the real knowledge. The knowledge which makes the integral character of a human being is the real knowledge. That is the pure knowledge and there is no other greater knowledge;  na hi jñānena sadṛiśhaṁ, as sublime and pure as the true knowledge. The Mysore University in south India, when it was started around seventy years ago, had adopted the motto from the above shloka; “na hi jñānena sadṛiśhaṁ”- nothing equal to knowledge (Gyana). The knowledge in real sense should lead us to the perfection, the inherent power lying within each one of us. The true knowledge leads one from the self to the Spirit. As Swami Vivekananda said;“Education is the manifestation of the perfection already within the human being”.  So by the constant practice of Yoga, we have to remove the darkness within us and manifest our true nature,  realize the wisdom and perfection within and achieve the pure consciousness of the Spirit.