Bhagavad-Gita Quotes on Wisdom & Knowledge (53 Quotes)

Verily there is no purifier in this world like knowledge. One who becomes purified by Karma-yoga discovers this knowledge within (naturally) in course of time. (See also 4.31, and 5.06).

The wise do not rejoice in sensual pleasures.

Even if one is the most sinful of all sinners, yet one shall cross over the ocean of sin by the raft of knowledge alone.

Thus the knowledge that is more secret than the secret has been explained to you by Me. After fully reflecting on this, do as you wish.

As the blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.

The one who has faith, and is sincere, and has mastery over the senses, gains this knowledge. Having gained this, one at once attains the supreme peace.

Steadfastness in knowledge of the Supreme Spirit, and the perception of the omnipresent God as the object of true knowledge is called knowledge what is contrary to this is ignorance.

Undivided, yet appears as if divided in beings He, the object of knowledge, is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of (all) beings.

... knowledge is hidden by selfish desire hidden by this unquenchable fire for self-satisfaction.

An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with material senses. Such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.

Learn from Me briefly, O Arjuna, how one who has attained such perfection realizes Brahman, the supreme state of knowledge.

Action should culminate in wisdom.

The true understanding of both the creator and the creation is considered by Me to be the transcendental or metaphysical knowledge.

I am the origin of all. Everything emanates from Me. Understanding this, the wise ones worship Me with love and devotion.

They, whose mind and intellect are absorbed in the Self, who remain firmly attached with the Self, who have Self as their supreme goal, whose sins have been destroyed by the knowledge, do not take birth again.

This being the case the ignorant person who considers oneself as the sole agent due to imperfect understanding does not understand.

What is the need for this detailed knowledge, O Arjuna I continually support the entire universe by a small fraction of My energy.

Some perceive God in the heart by the intellect through meditation others by the yoga of knowledge and others by the yoga of work (or Karma-yoga).

Out of compassion for them I, who dwell within their heart, destroy the darkness born of ignorance by the shining lamp of knowledge.

I shall fully describe the object of knowledge, knowing which one attains immortality.

Those who are devoid of attachment, whose mind is fixed in knowledge, all deeds of such liberated persons dissolves away.

Four types of virtuous ones worship or seek Me, O Arjuna. They are the distressed, the seeker of Self-knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise one who knows the Supreme.

But, those who carp at My teaching and do not practice it, consider them as ignorant of all knowledge, senseless, and lost.

Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will.

Among them the wise one, who is ever united with Me and whose devotion is single minded, is the best. Because, I am very dear to the wise, and the wise is very dear to Me.

You grieve for those who are not worthy of grief, and yet speak the words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.

Discrimination, knowledge, non-delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control over the mind and senses, pleasure, pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness .

Some realize the Self within them through the practice of meditation, some by the path of wisdom, and others by selfless service. Others may not know these paths but hearing and following the instructions of an illumined teacher, they too go beyond death.

There has never been a time when you and I have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes.

The joys that spring from external associations bring pain they have their beginnings and their endings. The wise man does not rejoice in them.

Restless senses, O Arjuna, forcibly carry away the mind of even a wise person striving for perfection.

Just as a fire is covered by smoke and a mirror is obscured by dust, just as the embryo rests deep within the womb, wisdom is hidden by selfish desire.

Thus the creation as well as the knowledge and the object of knowledge have been briefly described. Understanding this, My devotee attains Me.

But their knowledge, whose ignorance is destroyed by the Self-knowledge, reveals the Supreme like the sun (reveals the beauty of objects of the world).

I give the knowledge, to those who are ever united with Me and lovingly adore Me.

All these (seekers) are indeed noble, but I regard the wise as My very Self, because the one who is steadfast becomes one with the Supreme Being.

After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything. Such great souls are very rare.

The live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart.

... the beginningless Brahman, ... can be called neither being nor nonbeing. It is both near and far, both within and without every creature it moves and is unmoving. In its subtlety it is beyond comprehension. It is indivisible, yet appears divided in separate creatures. Know it to be the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer. Dwelling in every heart, it is beyond darkness. It is called the light of lights, the object and goal of knowledge, and knowledge itself.

A person whose all works are free from selfish desires and motives, and whose all Karma is burned up in the fire of Self-knowledge, is called a sage by the wise.

In this world there are two orders of being the perishable, separate creature and the changeless spirit. But beyond these there is another, the supreme Self, the eternal Lord, who enters into the entire cosmos and supports it from within. I am that supreme Self, praised by the scriptures as beyond the changing and the changeless. Those who see in me that supreme Self see truly. They have found the source of all wisdom, ... and they worship me with all their heart.

Out of compassion I destroy the darkness of their ignorance. From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives.

Among the knowledge I am knowledge of the supreme Self. I am logic of the logician.

All beings follow their nature. Even the wise act according to their own nature. What, then, is the value of sense restraint

All actions in their entirety culminate in knowledge.

After taking such a birth, O Arjuna, one regains the knowledge acquired in the previous life, and strives again to achieve perfection.

As the kindled fire consumes the fuel, so in the flame of wisdom the embers of action are burnt to ashes.

After many births the wise ones resort (or surrender) to Me by realizing that everything is (a manifestation of) Brahman indeed. Such a great soul is very rare.

The sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures. That which the world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.

The wise should work without attachment, for the welfare of the society.