In plain words
go for refuge,' 'Know Me too as the knower of the field,' and so on — in such words Śrī Kṛṣṇa spoke of himself again and again as 'I' — did he not? This word 'I' is seen everywhere, as the very form of every jīvātma, taking infinite forms, and it is quite plainly manifest. Just as a thread runs through beads, though the beads' names and forms may appear distinct, this 'I' is seen as the very thread that strings them all together. However much forms and names may change, this 'I' remains unchanging and eternal. Whoever first recognises this all-pervading 'I' can come to know everything. Such a one alone is the guru of the universe, the guru of the cosmos, the true guru. In this world, developing differing notions according to mere distinctions of condition and acting on them — regarding one person as great and another as lesser — such conduct too can never be the mark of a truly noble mind. Merely learning many bread-winning skills and becoming ready for debate and rebuttal does not, by itself, amount to true erudition. The word 'I' means that we have come to recognise and inquire into not merely material objects, but Paramātma who is the Ātma of all, so to speak. Just as one who says 'This is you,' striking at the heart and pointing it out directly, so the great teaching 'Tattvamasi' sounds in one ear.
However great a scholar of the scriptures one may be, one must never undertake the pursuit of Brahma-jñāna on one's own initiative. It is a matter to be grasped only from those great souls who are themselves experienced in it and who embody it in practice. This sacred Jñāna of the principle 'I' cannot be attained through logic, grammar, and such disciplines. All this, mind you, is the warning of the Śruti and Smṛti. If one wished to state the matter of 'I' in the barest outline, it could be told in three parts: 'By day I go about my affairs; at night I sleep. In sleep I dream. Doing this again and again, I eventually die.' Judging by the knowledge an individual actually has, this is how this activity called 'I' begins right from the moment of birth. However,