Chapter XI · Śloka 48
न वेदयज्ञाध्ययनैर्न दानैर्-
न च क्रियाभिर्न तपोभिरुग्रैः |
एवंरूपः शक्य अहं नृलोके
द्रष्टुं त्वदन्येन कुरुप्रवीर ||
न च क्रियाभिर्न तपोभिरुग्रैः |
एवंरूपः शक्य अहं नृलोके
द्रष्टुं त्वदन्येन कुरुप्रवीर ||
na veda-yajñādhyayanair na dānair
na ca kriyābhir na tapobhir ugraiḥ |
evaṃ-rūpaḥ śakya ahaṃ nṛ-loke
draṣṭuṃ tvad anyena kuru-pravīra ||
na ca kriyābhir na tapobhir ugraiḥ |
evaṃ-rūpaḥ śakya ahaṃ nṛ-loke
draṣṭuṃ tvad anyena kuru-pravīra ||
This form of Mine that you have seen cannot be beheld by any human being by study of the Vedas, nor by sacrifice, nor by charity, nor by ritual worship, nor by severe austerities.
A systematic negation: every instrument of traditional religion — Vedic study, ritual, gift-giving, austerity — falls short of what Arjuna has just received. The cosmic vision is beyond methodology.