Verse 2.231

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

अनेकानर्थनीडेऽस्मिन्निमग्नं ब्रह्मविद्यया ।
सङ्क्रामयितुमिष्टत्वाद् ब्रह्मान्तरतमं नरम् ॥ २३१ ॥

anekānarthanīḍe'sminnimagnaṃ brahmavidyayā |
saṅkrāmayitumiṣṭatvād brahmāntaratamaṃ naram || 231 ||

English translation of verse 2.231:

Since śruti desires to help man, who has plunged into this (ocean of saṃsāra), the repository of all evil, attain the innermost Brahman by means of Brahman-knowledge, (man alone is mentioned in the śruti text).

Notes:

By virtue of his ability to follow the teaching of Scripture, man alone is competent for performing karma and attaining knowledge. He seeks to attain the results which karma and jñāna are intended to secure. The disinterested performance of karma leads to the attainment of a pure mind, and only a person who has a pure mind is competent to inquire into the Vedānta. From the study of the Vedānta he attains Brahman-knowledge which leads to liberation. Therefore, the human being alone who has the ability to follow the teaching of Scripture and who desires to attain the result as taught in Scripture is qualified for karma and jñāna, and not any other being. The Aitareya Āraṇyaka (II, iii, 2-5) brings out the distinction between man and other animals as follows: “In man alone is the Self most manifest, for he is the best endowed with intelligence. He speaks what he knows. He sees what he knows. He knows what will happen tomorrow. He knows the higher and lower worlds. He aspires to achieve immortality through mortal beings. He is thus endowed with discrimination, while other animals have consciousness of hunger and thirst only.”