Srimad Bhagavatam — Ekadasha Skandha, Shloka 2
Sāṅkhya of Creation and Annihilation
Sarga–Nirodha-viveka
आसीज्ज्ञानमथो अर्थ एकमेवाविकल्पितम् । यदा विवेकनिपुणा आदौ कृतयुगेऽयुगे ॥ २ ॥
āsīj jñānam atho artha ekam evāvikalpitam yadā viveka-nipuṇā ādau kṛta-yuge ’yuge
À l’origine, durant le Kṛta-yuga—quand tous excellaient dans le discernement spirituel—et même auparavant, au temps de la dissolution, la connaissance et son objet n’étaient qu’un, sans division. Le voyant demeurait seul, non différent de ce qui est vu.
Kṛta-yuga is the first age, also known as Satya-yuga, in which knowledge, being perfect, is not different from its object. In modern society, knowledge is highly speculative and constantly changing. There is often a vast difference between people’s theoretical ideas and actual reality. In Satya-yuga, however, people are viveka-nipuṇāḥ, or expert in intelligent discrimination, and thus there is no difference between their vision and reality. In Satya-yuga, the population in general is self-realized. Seeing everything as the potency of the Supreme Lord, they do not artificially create duality between themselves and other living entities. This is a further aspect of the oneness of Satya-yuga. At the time of annihilation, everything merges to rest within the Lord, and at that time also there is no difference between the Lord, who becomes the only seer, and the objects of knowledge, which are contained within the Lord. The liberated living entities in the eternal spiritual world are never subject to such merging but remain forever undisturbed in their spiritual forms. Because they are voluntarily one with the Lord in love, their abode is never annihilated.
FAQs
This verse describes Kṛta-yuga as a time when people were naturally sharp in viveka (discernment), and knowledge and its object were experienced as one—without fragmented conceptual alternatives.
Kṛṣṇa contrasts earlier ages with later decline to explain how perception becomes divided and confused, and to guide Uddhava toward steady discrimination and spiritual realization beyond mental dualities.
Practice viveka by reducing impulsive choices, studying śāstra with focus, and cultivating steady awareness (through bhakti and contemplation) so that understanding becomes integrated rather than scattered.