Verse 2.628

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

न चोपासान्तराधीनो ब्रह्मज्ञानोदयो भवेत् ।
तं यथा, तं तमेवेति न्यायदृब्धश्रुतेः स्मृतेः ॥ ६२८ ॥

na copāsāntarādhīno brahmajñānodayo bhavet |
taṃ yathā, taṃ tameveti nyāyadṛbdhaśruteḥ smṛteḥ || 628 ||

English translation of verse 2.628:

Brabman-knowledge will not arise even from meditation, as it has been stated by śruti and smṛti texts, “In whichever form one meditates upon Him,” and “Him alone a person reaches” respectively, supported by reasoning.

Notes:

This verse and the following one state that Brahman-knowledge cannot be obtained through meditation.

The practice of meditation as directed by Scripture may lead to the attainment of the conditioned Brahman, a fruit which is different from Brahman-knowledge (jñānātiriktaphalam). Two scriptural passages, one from śruti and another from smṛti, are cited in the second line of the verse in support of this view. The Mudgala Upaniṣad (III, 3) says. “In whichever form one meditates upon Him, one becomes that alone” (taṃ yathā yathopāsate tadeva bhavati). The Bhagavadgītā (VIII, 6) declares, “Him alone, O son of Kuntī, reaches he by whom the thought of that being has been constantly dwelt upon.” Ānandagiri remarks that the reasoning referred to in this context in support of these scriptural passages is the well-known tatkratu-nyāya contained in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (IV, iv, 5) which says: “As is his desire, so is his will; as is his will, so is the deed he does; whatever deed he does, that he attains.”