BG 4.36
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Devanagari
अपि चेदसि पापेभ्यः सर्वेभ्यः पापकृत्तमः ।
सर्वं ज्ञानप्लवेनैव वृजिनं सन्तरिष्यसि ॥ ३६ ॥
Verse text
api ced asi pāpebhyaḥ
sarvebhyaḥ pāpa-kṛt-tamaḥ
sarvaṁ jṣāna-plavenaiva
vṛjinaṁ santariṣyasi
Synonyms
api
—
even
;
cet
—
if
;
asi
—
you are
;
pāpebhyaḥ
—
of sinners
;
sarvebhyaḥ
—
of all
;
pāpa-kṛt-tamaḥ
—
the greatest sinner
;
sarvam
—
all such sinful reactions
;
jṣāna-plavena
—
by the boat of transcendental knowledge
;
eva
—
certainly
;
vṛjinam
—
the ocean of miseries
;
santariṣyasi
—
you will cross completely.
Translation
Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
36. Even if you are the most sinful among sinners, you will cross over all sins just by the boat of knowledge.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
36. Even if you are the most sinful among all sinners, you will cross over all sins just by the boat of knowledge.
Purport
Proper understanding of one’s constitutional position in relationship to Kṛṣṇa is so nice that it can at once lift one from the struggle for existence which goes on in the ocean of nescience. This material world is sometimes regarded as an ocean of nescience and sometimes as a blazing forest. In the ocean, however expert a swimmer one may be, the struggle for existence is very severe. If someone comes forward and lifts the struggling swimmer from the ocean, he is the greatest savior. Perfect knowledge, received from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the path of liberation. The boat of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very simple, but at the same time the most sublime.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This verse is a glorification of knowledge.
The verse states “If you are more sinful than all sinners...” But how could a person who is sinful be pure hearted, and without purity of heart, how could he attain realization of knowledge? Actually, it is not possible for one who has attained knowledge to commit sinful acts. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī explains: the words api and cet are used to show the assumption of the impossible; though the commission of sin would be impossible, the assumption is made to show the results of attaining knowledge.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
This verse speaks of the power of knowledge. Even if you are most sinful among all sinful persons you will cross over all sins (vṛjinam), compared to an ocean, because it is difficult to cross, by the boat of knowledge just mentioned.
Surrender Unto Me
This is pertaining to Arjuna's position because he was afraid of commiting sins and going to hell. But here Krsna is telling him that if one is situated in transcendental knowledge there is no question of being affected.
One question can be raised: How can a sinful person be in transcendental knowledge? The word "api cet" means 'even if'; even if there was a sinful person with transcendental knowledge he would be free. It is no likely because one has to be pure to get transcendental knowledge.
This verse glorifies knowledge.