So now here in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord Kṛṣṇa says that bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyante. There are so many transcendentalists. That means those who are trying to realize the Supreme Absolute Truth. There are many different kinds of spiritual process. So they have been analyzed into three groups. Although they are many, still, they have been put into three groups. What are they? The first are the impersonalist, brahmavādī, impersonal Brahman.
Just like the same example: In the sunshine your eyes are dazzled. You do not see. If you go little over this planet, earth planet, by aeroplane, and if there is full sunshine, you don't see anything except sunshine. But that does not mean there is nothing beyond sunshine. But my eyes are dazzled by the sunshine.
Just like in during daytime you do not find the stars due to the dazzling sunshine, but you don't think that because you do not see the planets or stars during daytime, they are vanquished, there is nothing. No. Similarly, those who are trying to understand the Absolute Truth, they first of all realize that brahma-jyoti. In the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find, about that brahma-jyoti, brahmaṇaḥ ahaṁ pratiṣṭhā. Just like the sunshine.
So the impersonalists, brahmavādī, they realize about that brahma-jyoti. And the yogīs, they realize the Supersoul. Supersoul. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61): "Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, by His plenary portions, He is situated in everyone's heart." We are sitting together. Several times we have described this, that two birds are sitting in the same tree. The two birds means one, the Supersoul, and other, the individual living entity.
So by yogic process, by concentrating our mind, focusing our mind to the Supersoul, one can experience that partial, plenary expansion of the Lord, Supersoul. Just like in the . . . the same example can be given, just the sun, at noontime, if you enquire thousands and thousands of people scattered over thousands and thousands of miles away, everyone will say that, "The sun is on my head." Similarly, the Supreme Lord is also represented by the Supersoul conception in everyone's heart. Not only in everyone's heart, but even in every atom He is represented. So that realization is the second stage. And the third stage is to realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore it is said here that these stages . . . bahūnāṁ janmanām ante. Bahūnām means after many, many, many births. Spiritual realization is not achieved in one birth. If one is fortunate, oh, he can achieve in one second. He can achieve in one second. But generally, it takes many, many years and many, many births to realize what is God, what is the Absolute Truth. Just like Kṛṣṇa says that:
- ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo
- mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
- iti matvā bhajante māṁ
- budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ
- (BG 10.8)
"I am the origin of everything." Just like Vedānta-sūtra says that the Absolute Truth is that from whom everything is born or everything emanates. So in the Bhagavad-gītā you'll find, the Lord says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ: "I am the origin of everything."
So if you believe that Kṛṣṇa is the . . . or the Supreme Personality of Godhead is everything, and if you surrender, if you worship, then the whole thing, whole account, is closed in one second. But if you don't believe—"Oh, I want to see what is actually God is"—then you have to go by stages: first realization, this impersonal Brahman effulgence; then second realization, the Paramātmā; and then, in the third stage, you realize, "Oh, here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." So that will take time.
So . . . but one has to continue. If one gives up the research work just after making a few steps' advance, oh, that will not help. One has to go on, go on with it with steadiness, that "What is God? I shall see." That is called jñānī, jijñāsu, philosopher, inquisitive.
So out of those inquisitive and philosophers, if they continue this research work, what God is, then there will be a time, after many, many births, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante—not immediately, but after many, many births. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān. Jñānavān means those who are in knowledge. Not fools—those who are in actually in knowledge, jñānavān. Jñāna means knowledge, and vān means one has got knowledge. So he's called jñānavān. Jñānavān māṁ prapadyate. He, by . . . by the end of his research work, he finds that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is this destination. He is the root of everything.