श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । अस्य देवाधिदेवस्य परस्य परमात्मनः । ज्ञानादेव परा सिद्धिर्न त्वनुष्ठानदुःखतः ॥ १ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | asya dēvādhidēvasya parasya paramātmanaḥ | jñānādēva parā siddhirna tvanuṣṭhānaduḥkhataḥ || 1 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: The highest attainment of this God above the gods, the supreme, the supreme Self, comes from knowledge alone, not from the hardship of works.
Word by word
- asya
- of this
- dēva
- the gods
- adhidēvasya
- of the God above
- parasya
- the supreme
- paramātmanaḥ
- the supreme Self
- jñānād
- (jñānāt) from knowledge
- ēva
- alone
- parā
- the highest
- siddhir
- (siddhiḥ) attainment
- na
- not
- tu
- but
- anuṣṭhāna
- of works
- duḥkhataḥ
- from the hardship
Meaning
The last sarga showed what the root of everything is; now Vasiṣṭha says how it is reached. The commentary: having described the God of gods, the root cause of the world, he now wants to give the means to knowledge, which is the means to reaching him. He is called God above the gods because even Hiraṇyagarbha and the other gods have him for their cause. The attainment (siddhi) is not a new thing gained but the Self known; therefore it comes from knowing, and the toil of rites, which the commentary calls the pains that come from performing works, cannot produce it.