A core teaching · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Clear seeing does not create reality; it uncovers what was always there.”
But for those whose ignorance has been destroyed by knowledge of the true self, that knowledge reveals the supreme reality like the sun.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyby knowledge · but · that ignorance · of those whose · destroyed · of the true self · for them · like the sun · knowledge · reveals · the supreme reality
When ignorance is removed by true understanding, that understanding itself reveals the highest reality, just as the sun reveals everything in daylight.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Karma Sanyasa Yoga" (The Yoga of Renunciation).
Verse 16 sits in Chapter 5 of the Bhagavad Gita — Karma Sanyasa Yoga, "The Yoga of Renunciation". The chapter has 29 verses in total.
After months of tension with her mother-in-law, a woman finally learns the reason behind the coldness, and the whole house looks different. Krishna uses the sun for this: once ignorance goes, knowledge lights up what was always there.
Did you like this verse?
Like the sun, knowledge of the self lights up the supreme once ignorance is destroyed.
What this verse means
When ignorance is removed by true understanding, that understanding itself reveals the highest reality, just as the sun reveals everything in daylight.
Context & commentary
Here Krishna says that when a person's ignorance is destroyed by insight, the highest reality becomes visible at once, like sunlight after darkness.
What it looks like today
After months of tension with her mother-in-law, a woman finally learns the reason behind the coldness, and the whole house looks different. Krishna uses the sun for this: once ignorance goes, knowledge lights up what was always there.
“Clarity is not added from outside; once confusion falls away, what is real becomes obvious.”
Explore related themes: clarity (10 verses)