Devanagari
आसीज्ज्ञानमथो अर्थ एकमेवाविकल्पितम् ।
यदा विवेकनिपुणा आदौ कृतयुगेऽयुगे ॥ २ ॥
Verse text
āsīj jṣānam atho artha
ekam evāvikalpitam
yadā viveka-nipuṇā
ādau kṛta-yuge ’yuge
Synonyms
āsīt
—
there existed
;
jṣānam
—
the seer
;
atha u
—
thus
;
arthaḥ
—
the seen
;
ekam
—
one
;
eva
—
simply
;
avikalpitam
—
undifferentiated
;
yadā
—
when
;
viveka
—
in discrimination
;
nipuṇāḥ
—
persons who were expert
;
ādau
—
in the beginning
;
kṛta
—
yuge — in the age of purity
;
ayuge
—
and before that, during the time of annihilation .
Translation
Originally, during the Kṛta-yuga, when all men were very expert in spiritual discrimination, and also previous to that, during the period of annihilation, the seer existed alone, nondifferent from the seen object.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Originally, during Satya-yuga, when all men were expert in spiritual discrimination, and also during the period of annihilation, the Lord was complete, one alone, without difference.
Jṣāna means Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān according to Śukadeva’s statement in SB 1.2.11. This jṣāna or Brahman was full (arthaḥ) and devoid of difference during the period of devastation (ayuge), in Satya-yuga and also when there were wise persons skilled in discrimination, with no difference opinions among them.
Purport
Kṛta-yuga is the first age, also known as Satya-yuga, in which knowledge, being perfect, is not different from its object. In modern society, knowledge is highly speculative and constantly changing. There is often a vast difference between people’s theoretical ideas and actual reality. In Satya-yuga, however, people are
viveka-nipuṇāḥ,
or expert in intelligent discrimination, and thus there is no difference between their vision and reality. In Satya-yuga, the population in general is self-realized. Seeing everything as the potency of the Supreme Lord, they do not artificially create duality between themselves and other living entities. This is a further aspect of the oneness of Satya-yuga. At the time of annihilation, everything merges to rest within the Lord, and at that time also there is no difference between the Lord, who becomes the only seer, and the objects of knowledge, which are contained within the Lord. The liberated living entities in the eternal spiritual world are never subject to such merging but remain forever undisturbed in their spiritual forms. Because they are voluntarily one with the Lord in love, their abode is never annihilated.