4.38 na hi gyAnEna sadhruSam

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 4

<< Chapter 4 verse 37

SlOkam – Original

na hi gyAnEna sadhruSam pavithram iha vidhyathE |
thath svayam yOgasamsidhdha: kAlEnAthmani vindhathi ||

word-by-word meaning

iha – in this world
gyAnEna sadhruSam – matching knowledge about self
pavithram – purifying
na vidhyathE – (any other option) not present.
thath – such knowledge
svayam – himself
yOga samsidhdha: – one who has acquired perfection in (previously mentioned) karma yOga
kAlEna – over time
Athmani – in self
vindhathi – attains/realises

Simple Translation

In this world, there is nothing purifying as knowledge about self. One who has acquired such knowledge of perfection in (previously mentioned) karma yOga, realises the self over time.

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘No purifier, like wisdom, is there existing. He
who is (karma-)yoga-perfect realizes it in himself in time.’

Inasmuch as there exists here —in the universe—no other purer (or more sanctifying) thing than ātma-wisdom, it is destructive of all sin. By perfecting oneself, therefore, by easily practicing karma-yoga (yoga-samsiddhaḥ), in the way taught, one realizes in himself, in due course of time, the ātma-nature.

The same is made (further) clearer.

>> Chapter 4 verse 39

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