Chapter 11 Shloka 54
भक्त्या त्वनन्यया शक्य अहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन ।
ज्ञातुं द्रष्टुं च तत्त्वेन प्रवेष्टुं च परंतप ।।५४।।
Look little one, listen to the Lord’s words:
However, O Arjuna, I can be known in reality, seen and entered into in this manner, through exclusive devotion.
Knowledge of the Lord’s Essential Nature through exclusive devotion
1. “Nobody who is devoid of devotion can know Me.
2. The essence of this Truth also cannot be perceived without devotion.
3. Even though a person may engage in countless acts of yagya, tapas and daan, he cannot recognise Me.
4. Only that one can attain the essence of Adhyatam – the divine nature of Brahm, who is joined with Me through affection.
5. Perusal of the Scriptures, repeating the scriptural tenets, even the greatest knowledge cannot render the desired fruit.
6. But if you fill your knowledge with devotion, the Lord Himself will at once hasten to meet you.
7. Then you will gain a vision of Me, you will be able to know My essence and you will also merge in Me.”
Love
1. Love is attachment with the Supreme.
2. Love is devotion in the Lord.
3. Love is verily another name for faith.
4. Knowledge is arid without the sap of devotion.
5. It is difficult to convert knowledge into practice without the support of faith.
6. Faith is the mother of all divine attributes.
7. Knowledge cannot achieve its culmination without the support of faith.
8. All acts of sacrificial offering are fruitless and meaningless without faith.
9. All acts of endurance and toleration are meaningless without faith.
10. Charity has no meaning without faith.
11. Love is the manifestation of the supreme Essence of the Lord in mortals.
12. Love is the proof of the Lord’s presence in the individual.
13. In human beings the Lord’s Name is synonymous with love.
14. The essence of Adhyatam or spirituality in the individual is love.
The Lord therefore says again and again, that His essential Being is not perceptible even to those who are learned in the Vedas, who perform tapas, possess knowledge or perform acts in the spirit of yagya. “Such people cannot attain My Being; they cannot attain a vision of Me; they cannot know Me.”
