Devanagari
ज्ञानविज्ञानसंसिद्धा: पदं श्रेष्ठं विदुर्मम ।
ज्ञानी प्रियतमोऽतो मे ज्ञानेनासौ बिभर्ति माम् ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
jṣāna-vijṣāna-saṁsiddhāḥ
padaṁ śreṣṭhaṁ vidur mama
jṣānī priyatamo ’to me
jṣānenāsau bibharti mām
Synonyms
jṣāna
—
in scriptural knowledge
;
vijṣāna
—
and realized spiritual understanding
;
saṁsiddhāḥ
—
completely perfected
;
padam
—
the lotus feet
;
śreṣṭham
—
the supreme object
;
viduḥ
—
they know
;
mama
—
My
;
jṣānī
—
a learned transcendentalist
;
priya
—
tamaḥ — most dear
;
ataḥ
—
thus
;
me
—
to Me
;
jṣānena
—
by spiritual knowledge
;
asau
—
that learned person
;
bibharti
—
maintains (in happiness)
;
mām
—
Me .
Translation
Those who have achieved complete perfection through philosophical and realized knowledge recognize My lotus feet to be the supreme transcendental object. Thus the learned transcendentalist is most dear to Me, and by his perfect knowledge he maintains Me in happiness.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Those who had previously achieved complete perfection through philosophical and realized knowledge recognized my lotus feet to be supreme. Such a jṣānī, most dear to me, pleases me by his knowledge.
The Lord gives evidence of the realization of jṣānīs from previous history. Those who had perfect knowledge and realization knew that my svarūpa and my lotus feet, not Brahman, were the best.
tasyāravinda-nayanasya padāravinda-
kiṣjalka-miśra-tulasī-makaranda-vāyuḥ
antar-gataḥ sva-vivareṇa cakāra teṣāṁ
saṅkṣobham akṣara-juṣām api citta-tanvoḥ
The wind carrying the aroma of tulasī which had touched the filaments of the Lord’s toe nails on his lotus feet entered their minds through the nostrils and began to agitate their minds and bodies, even though they were fixed in Brahman. SB 3.15.43
Such a jṣānī is most dear to me.
Purport
The words
padaṁ śreṣṭhaṁ vidur mama
(“they recognize My lotus feet to be supreme”) certainly eliminate the impersonalist philosophers from the category of
saṁsiddhāḥ,
or completely perfected philosophers. Lord Kṛṣṇa here refers to such great transcendental scholars as the four Kumāras, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Śrī Vyāsadeva, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura and Śrīla A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. The Lord similarly states in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.17-18):
teṣām jṣānī nitya-yukta
eka-bhaktir viśiṣyate
priyo hi jṣānino ’ty-artham
ahaṁ sa ca mama priyaḥ
“Of these, the wise one who is in full knowledge in union with Me through pure devotional service is the best. For I am very dear to him, and he is dear to Me.”
udārāḥ sarva evaite
jṣānī tv ātmaiva me matam
āsthitaḥ sa hi yuktātmā
mām evānuttamāṁ gatim
“All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me I consider verily to dwell in Me. Being engaged in My transcendental service, he attains Me.”
Jṣāna
refers to an authorized philosophical and analytic perception of reality, and when such knowledge is clearly realized through the sanctification of consciousness the resultant comprehensive experience is called
vijṣāna.
Speculative, impersonal knowledge does not actually purify the heart of the living entity but rather merges him ever deeper into forgetfulness of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just as a father is always proud of his son’s education, similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa becomes very happy to see the living entities acquiring a sound spiritual education and thus making progress on the way back home, back to Godhead.