बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते । वासुदेवः सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः ॥
bahūnāṃ janmanāmante jñānavānmāṃ prapadyate | vāsudevaḥ sarvamiti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ||
Translation
At the end of many births, the man of wisdom surrenders to Me, knowing that Vasudeva is all. Such a great soul is very rare.
Interpretation
One of the most celebrated verses of the Gita. The wisdom that leads to complete surrender accumulates across many births (bahunam janmanam ante — at the end of many lifetimes). And the wisdom itself is crystallized in six words: Vasudevah sarvam iti — 'Vasudeva (the all-pervading Divine) is all.' This is the complete vision of nonduality: no exception, no other, no outside — only the one Divine. The great soul (mahatma) who reaches this recognition is sudurlabha — exceedingly rare, the crown jewel of humanity.