Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by Yogi Kalinath - Chapter 1, Verse 25

Pada 1, Sutra 25

Sanskrit Verse

Tatra niratishayam sarvajnatva-bijam

Translation

In Him (Ishwara), the seed of Omniscience is unsurpassed.

Interpretation

As Ishwara is unlimited so must His knowledge and hence the term omniscient is ascribed to Him. Also this verse states that in Him (Ishwara), the seed of omniscience is unsurpassed. So this implies that all beings also contain the seed of omniscience saved in a more limited capacity as His is unsurpassed. Humans are beings endowed with mind: HU— MAN (from the Sanskrit Manas meaning Mind) and that mind seeks knowledge: of its self, others, life, matter, the universe and its processes and how they all connect together. It can be mundane knowledge, pragmatic knowledge, existential knowledge, scientific knowledge or transcendental knowledge. However the ultimate and most liberating knowledge is knowledge of the Self through direct experience. This is the summum bonum of human existence. Realizing the Self, a human being moves from the status of homo sapiens (‘man of knowledge’) to homo divinus, a Divine Being equal in status to Ishwara.