Shloka 25
Rāja-Vidyā Rāja-Guhya Yoga (राजविद्या राजगुह्य योग) — The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret
२४ ।। नाहं प्रकाश: सर्वस्य योगमायासमावृत: । मूढो5यं नाभिजानाति लोकोः मामजमव्ययम्,क्योंकि अपनी योगमायासे छिपा हुआः मैं सबके प्रत्यक्ष नहीं होता, इसलिये यह अज्ञानी जनसमुदाय मुझ जन्मरहित अविनाशी परमेश्वरको नहीं जानता अर्थात् मुझको जन्मने-मरनेवाला समझता है
nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyāsamāvṛtaḥ | mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti loko mām ajam avyayam ||
I am not manifest to everyone, being veiled by My yogic power (yogamāyā). Therefore this deluded world does not recognize Me as the unborn and imperishable Lord—mistaking Me for one who is subject to birth and death.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Lord’s true nature is not automatically evident to everyone: due to yogamāyā (divine veiling power), those who are deluded fail to recognize Him as unborn and imperishable, and instead judge Him by ordinary, mortal standards.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s discourse setting, a doctrinal point is being stated: why the supreme reality (identified with Kṛṣṇa) is not recognized by the general populace. The emphasis is on the contrast between divine nature (unborn, imperishable) and worldly misapprehension (taking Him as merely birth-bound).