Bhagavad Gita 10.15
स्वयमेवात्मनात्मानं वेत्थ त्वं पुरुषोत्तम | भूतभावन भूतेश देवदेव जगत्पते ||
svayam evātmanātmānaṁ vettha tvaṁ puruṣottama | bhūta-bhāvana bhūteśa deva-deva jagat-pate ||
Translation
You alone know yourself by yourself, O best of persons, O source of beings, lord of beings, god of gods, master of the world.
Reflection
What would it mean to stop trying to wring more knowing than is given?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Ten
Arjuna names the only knower of Krishna. He alone knows Himself by Himself. The student is releasing the ambition to know in any other way. He addresses Krishna by four titles that complete the recognition. Best of persons, source of beings, lord of beings, god of gods, master of the world. The list is not ornamental. It places the speaker against whom Arjuna is measuring his own knowing at the size that knowing has to acknowledge. Once that asymmetry is fixed, the student is free to ask his question without the worry of having to fully understand the answer. The verse models the right posture for the catalogue that is about to be requested. Receive what is given. Do not try to wring more from the source than the source has chosen to release.