Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
अथ ते सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि साङ्ख्यं पूर्वैर्विनिश्चितम् ।
यद् विज्ञाय पुमान् सद्यो जह्याद् वैकल्पिकं भ्रमम् ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
atha te sampravakṣyāmi
sāṅkhyaṁ pūrvair viniścitam
yad vijṣāya pumān sadyo
jahyād vaikalpikaṁ bhramam
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Personality of Godhead said
;
atha
—
now
;
te
—
unto you
;
sampravakṣyāmi
—
I shall speak
;
sāṅkhyam
—
the knowledge of the evolution of the elements of creation
;
pūrvaiḥ
—
by previous authorities
;
viniścitam
—
ascertained
;
yat
—
which
;
vijṣāya
—
knowing
;
pumān
—
a person
;
sadyaḥ
—
immediately
;
jahyāt
—
can give up
;
vaikalpikam
—
based on false duality
;
bhramam
—
the illusion .
Translation
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: Now I shall describe to you the science of Sāṅkhya, which has been perfectly established by ancient authorities. By understanding this science a person can immediately give up the illusion of material duality.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Supreme Lord said: Now I shall describe to you Sāṅkhya, which has been perfectly established by ancient authorities. By understanding this, a person can immediately give up the illusion of identity with the body.
In the Twenty-fourth Chapter the elements from which the universe evolves and into which it dissolves are described. It was understood from the song of the Avantī brāhmaṇa that the cause of suffering was the self-identity in the subtle body predominated by the mind. That false identity disappears when one distinguishes the ātmā from the body. This is rooted in Sāṅkhya. Therefore the Lord teaches Sāṅkhya. By Sāṅkhya one can give up the illusion of identity with the body (vaikalpikam).
Purport
In the previous chapter the Lord explained that one can give up material duality by controlling the mind and fixing it in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This chapter describes the Sāṅkhya system, in which the difference between matter and spirit is elaborately explained. By hearing this knowledge one can easily separate the mind from material contamination and fix it on the spiritual platform in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The Sāṅkhya philosophy system mentioned here is that presented by Lord Kapila in the Third Canto of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
and not the atheistic Sāṅkhya presented later by materialists and Māyāvādīs. The material elements, which emanate from the potency of the Lord, evolve in a progressive sequence. One should not foolishly think that such evolution begins from an original material element without the assistance of the Lord. This speculative theory is generated from the false ego of conditioned life and constitutes gross ignorance, unacceptable to the Personality of Godhead and His followers.