Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
अथ ते सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि तत्त्वानां लक्षणं पृथक् ।
यद्विदित्वा विमुच्येत पुरुष: प्राकृतैर्गुणै: ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
atha te sampravakṣyāmi
tattvānāṁ lakṣaṇaṁ pṛthak
yad viditvā vimucyeta
puruṣaḥ prākṛtair guṇaiḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — the Personality of Godhead said
;
atha
—
now
;
te
—
to you
;
sampravakṣyāmi
—
I shall describe
;
tattvānām
—
of the categories of the Absolute Truth
;
lakṣaṇam
—
the distinctive features
;
pṛthak
—
one by one
;
yat
—
which
;
viditvā
—
knowing
;
vimucyeta
—
one can be released
;
puruṣaḥ
—
any person
;
prākṛtaiḥ
—
of the material nature
;
guṇaiḥ
—
from the modes .
Translation
The Personality of Godhead, Kapila, continued: My dear mother, now I shall describe unto you the different categories of the Absolute Truth, knowing which any person can be released from the influence of the modes of material nature.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Lord said: Now I will describe the features of the elements one by one, knowing which, a person can be freed from the guṇas of prakṛti.
In the Twenty-sixth Chapter, the manifestation and characteristics of the elements such as mahat-tattva, the universal form composed of those elements, and its being brought to life by the entrance of the Lord are described.
Being questioned by his mother about bhakti, jṣāna and yoga, Kapila explained bhakti. His mother was fully satisfied with that. However, even persons engaged in bhakti, which reigns supreme everywhere with authority since without bhakti, karma, jṣāna and yoga cannot give results of Svarga or liberation, should be inquisitive to know about karma, jṣāna and yoga. Now jṣāna will be discussed.
Purport
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā,
one can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, only through devotional service (
bhaktyā mām abhijānāti
). As stated in the
Bhāgavatam,
the object of devotional service is
mām,
Kṛṣṇa. And, as explained in the
Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
to understand Kṛṣṇa means to understand Kṛṣṇa in His personal form with His internal energy, His external energy, His expansions and His incarnations. There are many diverse departments of knowledge in understanding Kṛṣṇa. Sāṅkhya philosophy is especially meant for persons who are conditioned by this material world. It is generally understood by the
paramparā
system, or by disciplic succession, to be the science of devotional service. Preliminary studies of devotional service have already been explained. Now the analytical study of devotional service will be explained by the Lord, who says that by such an analytical study, one becomes freed from the modes of material nature. The same assertion is confirmed in
Bhagavad-gītā.
Tato māṁ tattvato jṣātvā:
by understanding the Lord according to various categories, one can become eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. This is also explained here. By understanding the science of devotional service in Sāṅkhya philosophy, one can become free from the modes of material nature. The eternal self, after becoming freed from the spell of material nature, becomes eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. As long as one has even a slight desire to enjoy or lord it over material nature, there is no chance of his being freed from the influence of nature’s material modes. Therefore, one has to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead analytically, as explained in the Sāṅkhya system of philosophy by Lord Kapiladeva.