टीका

Commentary

This verse asserts one of the most fundamental asymmetries in all of theology: the relationship between the Supreme and the individual soul is not symmetrical. God knows all beings completely — their past lives, their present condition, their future trajectories. But no being, by ordinary means, knows God. The knowing runs in one direction. The intimacy is not mutual — not yet, not without the extraordinary gift of grace and devotion that the Gita has been pointing toward throughout Chapter 7.

The totality of Krishna’s knowing is expressed in three temporal dimensions: samateetaani — all that has passed; vartamaanaani — all that is present; bhavishyaani — all that will come. And not just events but bhootaani — all living beings. Every soul, in every body, across every lifetime. This is the knowing of the Paramatma, the Supersoul who dwells in the heart of every creature, witnessing every thought, every desire, every act of love and every betrayal. Nothing is hidden from this all-pervading awareness.

The poignancy of the verse lies in its second half: maam tu veda na kashchana — but no one knows Me. This is not a complaint but a cosmic statement of fact. The individual soul, embedded in material nature, conditioned by the gunas, driven by desire and aversion, operating through a material mind — such a soul cannot, by its own powers, know the Supreme. The Supreme is not an object that can be grasped by ordinary cognition. Krishna confirms what the previous verse stated: He remains veiled, not fully knowable through logic, study, or even ordinary spiritual effort.

What, then, is the path to knowing? The Gita has been pointing to it throughout: surrender, devotion, love. The gnaani who surrenders — as in verse 19 — begins to know. Not through mental calculation but through the grace that flows when the heart opens completely.

Historical Context

The claim to omniscience — knowledge of past, present, and future — is one of the marks of the Supreme Being across the world’s religious traditions. In the Vedic framework, this omniscience is the natural consequence of the Paramatma’s indwelling presence in all hearts. Gita 15.15 states: sarvasya chaaham hridi sannivishtah — “I am seated in the hearts of all beings.” From that universal vantage point, all of time and all of existence is transparent.