Mūla — the verse
Gita Press numberingTranslation
Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣyaNot by the study of the Vedas and sacrifices, not by gifts, not even by rituals, nor by severe austerities, can I, in this form, be perceived in the human world by anyone other than you, O most valiant among the Kurus, who has not received My grace.
हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda
हे कुरुप्रवीर! तुम्हारे अतिरिक्त इस मनुष्य लोक में किसी अन्य के द्वारा मैं इस रूप में, न वेदाध्ययन और न यज्ञ, न दान और न (धार्मिक) क्रियायों के द्वारा और न उग्र तपों के द्वारा ही देखा जा सकता हूँ।।
Pronunciation — Vaamshii
from VaamshiiWord by word
padārthaMeaning — Questions & Solutions
from Q&A with KnAA grammatical note on the construction na … śakyo’ham … draṣṭum — “I am not able-to-be-seen” — where the passive potential (śakya) is predicated of “I” (aham), an idiom that sits awkwardly with the strict metre and has been remarked by commentators. Such roughnesses, here as elsewhere (recall 6.39, 11.54), are best read as the metre yielding to the weight of the meaning rather than as errors to be corrected.
“Not by the Vedas, not by sacrifice, not by study, not by gifts, not by rites, not by fierce austerities can I be seen in this form in the world of men, by any but you.” The point is decisive: the cosmic vision is not purchasable by any quantity of ritual merit (recall 8.28). No stacking of good works opens this eye. Only grace, met by undivided devotion (11.54), does. This dismantles once and for all the notion that the Highest can be earned by transaction.