Verse 19

In plain words

The one who knows is praised again —

Many births go by, and each one lays down the impressions that bend a person toward knowledge. At the end of that long series — when it has finally run out — the one who knows, whose knowledge has ripened all the way through, comes to me directly: to Vāsudeva, the Self seated innermost in him. How does he come? Like this: Vāsudeva is everything. Whoever reaches me that way — me, Nārāyaṇa, the Self of all — he is a mahātman. No one stands level with him, and no one stands above him. Which is why such a person is almost never found: among thousands of people, as it was already said.

Close to the Sanskrit

The knower is again praised —

At the end — that is, at the completion — of many births which are the support of the impressions directed toward knowledge, the one possessed of knowledge, whose knowledge has reached full ripeness, comes directly to me, Vāsudeva, the inner Self. How? Thus: 'Vāsudeva is all.' He who in this way attains me, Nārāyaṇa, the Self of all — he is a great soul; there is no other equal to him, or greater. Therefore he is exceedingly hard to find; for it has been said, 'among thousands of men' (BG 7.3).

In plain words

In the same way, if someone today is a great jñāni, it is only because he carried out so much sādhana in his former births that he has been able to come to this state today. For this, the saṃskāra of past births must help as well. Now, though, everyone goes about declaring himself a jñāni. But a jñāni must bear certain marks. The statement born of experience, ‘All is Vāsudeva’: that alone is the true mark, the right state. When people hear “Vāsudeva”, they usually take it to mean ‘the son of Vasudeva’. That is not right. The state in which one is the dwelling-place of all beings and oneself dwells in all beings: that is what is called Vāsudeva.

In plain words

It was because such petty jñānis would arise that Kṛṣṇa Paramātma gave in the Gītā the holy, great teaching “Vāsudevas sarvaṃ”, the great king of mantras. That one mantra alone is enough for man to cross over. To regard that very mantra always as an indirect prasāda and to remember it constantly is the supreme merit; that itself is the goal. This six-syllabled name alone can make man's life fulfilled. But today in the world, each on his own authority, men take on names beyond telling, oh!, calling themselves mahātmas, jagadgurus, Bhagavāns, jñānis, paramahaṃsas, tyāgīs and ānandas, and pass themselves off in the world. These titles were given by no one; they picked them out and brought them home themselves. Poor things! They hung them on their own heads. These names are a three days' wonder. They are not genuine. They are not pure.