न मे विदुः सुरगणाः प्रभवं न महर्षयः | अहमादिर्हि देवानां महर्षीणां च सर्वशः || २ ||
na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ prabhavaṁ na maharṣayaḥ aham ādir hi devānāṁ maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ
na—neither; me—My; viduḥ—know; sura-gaṇāḥ—the gods; prabhavam—origin; na—nor; maharṣayaḥ—the great sages; aham—I am; ādiḥ—the origin; hi—certainly; devānām—of the gods; maharṣīṇām—of the great sages; ca—also; sarvaśaḥ—in all respects.
“Neither the gods nor the great sages know My origin, for I am the source of the gods and the great sages in every way.”
The Absolute cannot be known by its own effects. Gods and sages, being modifications of the same primordial consciousness, cannot grasp the unmanifest source from which they themselves arise. Only through self-inquiry, by turning attention to the very ground of knowing, does the Self reveal itself to itself.
The mind cannot comprehend what is prior to the mind itself. When intellectual knowledge reaches its limit, that very limit becomes an invitation into contemplative silence. Rather than being frustrated by mystery, treat it as the doorway to a deeper mode of knowing.