11-53 to 11-54

नाहम् वेदैः न तपसा न दानेन न चेज्यया ।
शक्य एवम् विधो द्रष्टुम् दृष्टवान् असि माम् यथा ॥ ५३ ॥
भक्त्या तु अनन्यया शक्यः अहम् एवम् विधार्जुन ।
ज्ञातुम् द्रष्टुम् च तत्त्वेन प्रवेष्टुम् च परन्तप ॥ ५४ ॥

nAham vedaiH na tapasA na dAnena na cejyayA |
zakya evam vidho draSTum dRSTavAn asi mAm yathA || 53 ||
bhaktyA tu ananyayA zakyaH aham evam vidhArjuna |
jJAtum draSTum ca tattvena praveSTum ca parantapa || 54 ||

न शक्य [na zakya] It is not possible द्रष्टुम् [draSTum] to see अहम् [aham] Me एवम् विधः [evam vidhaH] in this way - यथा [yathA] the way in which दृष्टवान् असि [dRSTavAn asi] you have seen माम् [mAm] Me - न वेदैः [na vedaiH] not by the scriptures, न तपसा [na tapasA] not by penance, न दानेन [na dAnena] not by charity न चेज्यया [na cejyayA] and not by sacrifice. अनन्यया भक्त्या तु [ananyayA bhaktyA tu] Only by single-minded devotion, अर्जुन [arjuna] Arjuna, अहम् शक्यः [aham zakyaH] I can ज्ञातुम् [jJAtum] be known तत्त्वेन [tattvena] as I am, द्रष्टुम् [draSTum] to be seen च [ca] and प्रवेष्टुम् [praveSTum] to be entered एवम् विधः [evam vidhaH] in this way. परन्तप [parantapa] Destroy your rivals.

A person without devotion wouldn’t be able to see Me in My true being. I am not seen merely by following the scriptures, by instruction, by teaching, by studying, by listening, by chanting and by achievements such as ceremonies, rituals, charity and penance.

With single-minded devotion alone, it is possible to know Me from the scriptures as I truly Am, to see My true form and to actually enter Me. As said in the कठ उपनिशत् [kaTha upanizat] , 2-23: ‘This Self is not realized by teaching, not by intelligence, not by listening about it many times. It is realized by the one whom it chooses. This Self shall reveal itself to such a person’.

The ‘Self’ mentioned here is the Lord, who is the Ultimate Self of the universe . From this it is known that the Lord only reveals Himself to the one He chooses. Of course, this brings a question: Does this not sound arbitrary? Whom does the Lord choose? The answer is: The Lord chooses those who choose the Lord - those who are devoted to Him, as said in this Shloka itself.