Verse 2.439

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

विद्वत्ताव्यतिरेकेण यदि तत्प्राप्तिरुच्यते ।
चोद्यमेतत्तदा युक्तं न त्वेवं सति युक्तिमत् ॥ ४३९ ॥

vidvattāvyatirekeṇa yadi tatprāptirucyate |
codyametattadā yuktaṃ na tvevaṃ sati yuktimat || 439 ||

English translation of verse 2.439:

This question (as to why an ignorant man does not attain Brahman) is proper only if it be said that Brahman could be attained without being a knower (of Brahman). But this being the case (that knowledge alone leads to the attainment of Brahman), it is not reasonable.

Notes:

It was argued earlier in verse (361) that since Brahman is common to both a man of knowledge and an ignorant man, the latter also must attain Brahman like the former. It is necessary to examine this contention carefully. This argument must mean one of two things: either it means that an ignorant man, like a man of knowledge, attains Brahman by removing avidyā, which is the cause of bondage, or it means that, since Brahman constitutes the essential nature of an ignorant man in the same way as it constitutes the essential nature of an enlightened one, an ignorant man also attains Brahman in this sense. The first alternative is untenable. If knowledge were not the means to the attainment of Brahman, then it could be argued that a wise man and an ignorant one must be viewed alike in respect of the attainment of Brahman. But since we maintain that Brahman can be attained only through knowledge, the contention that a person who is ignorant can also attain it is untenable.