आवृतं ज्ञानमेतेन ज्ञानिनो नित्यवैरिणा | कामरूपेण कौन्तेय दुष्पूरेणानलेन च || ३९ ||
āvṛtaṁ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca
āvṛtam—covered; jñānam—pure consciousness; etena—by this; jñāninaḥ—of the wise; nitya-vairiṇā—by the eternal enemy; kāma-rūpeṇa—in the form of lust; kaunteya—O son of Kunti; duṣpūreṇa—never satisfied; analena—like fire; ca—also.
“O Kaunteya, the knowledge of even the wise is veiled by this eternal enemy in the form of insatiable desire, which burns like a fire.”
Even the learned — those with scriptural knowledge and intellectual understanding — are not immune to the veiling power of kama. This sobering teaching prevents spiritual pride. No level of conceptual knowledge automatically neutralizes desire. Only direct Self-knowledge (Atma-jnana) — not mere information about the Self — can fully dissolve the power of desire. The path must go all the way to direct realization.
Intellectual knowledge of spiritual teachings, however vast, does not substitute for actual inner transformation. You may know that 'all this is Brahman' and still be driven by desire and aversion. Use this recognition not as an excuse for despair but as a call to move beyond conceptual understanding into direct inner inquiry and sustained practice.