Shloka 50
नरक-निर्णयः, पाप-कर्म-फल-व्यवस्था, प्रायश्चित्त-क्रमः, तथा हरि-स्मरण-परमत्वम्
ज्ञानम् एव परं ब्रह्म ज्ञानं बन्धाय चेष्यते ज्ञानात्मकम् इदं विश्वं न ज्ञानाद् विद्यते परम्
jñānam eva paraṃ brahma jñānaṃ bandhāya ceṣyate jñānātmakam idaṃ viśvaṃ na jñānād vidyate param
ஞானமே பரம்பிரம்மம்; ஞானமே பந்தத்திற்குக் காரணமெனவும் கூறப்படுகிறது. இந்தப் பிரபஞ்சம் முழுதும் ஞான-சொரூபம்; ஞானத்திற்கும் அப்பால் உயர்ந்தது எதுவுமில்லை।
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Concept: Brahman is of the nature of jñāna, and jñāna itself—misdirected or conditioned—can be the basis of bondage; the universe is pervaded by/known through jñāna, beyond which nothing higher is posited.
Vedantic Theme: Brahman
Application: Cultivate discriminative knowledge aligned with devotion—study, contemplation, and ethical living—so cognition becomes liberating rather than binding.
Vishishtadvaita: Can be read as: all knowing and all that is known subsist in the Supreme; jñāna as the jīva’s essential attribute becomes bound when contracted by karma, and liberated when expanded by the Lord’s grace—supporting a real world sustained by Nārāyaṇa (jagat-kāraṇa).
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
It identifies knowledge as the highest principle (paraṃ brahma) while also warning that misdirected or ego-bound cognition can itself become the mechanism of bondage.
Parāśara frames bondage and release around the quality of knowing: when knowledge is distorted by identification and attachment it binds, but when it reveals the Supreme Reality it leads beyond all limitation.
The verse uses Brahman-language to point to the Supreme Reality; within Vaishnava reading, that Supreme is ultimately Vishnu, known truly through liberating knowledge rather than merely conceptual thought.