Text 31
Knowledge of the Absolute
365
manuṣyāṇām —of men;  sahasreṣu —out of many thousands;  kaścit —someone;  yatati —endeavors;  siddhaye —for perfection;  yatatām —of those so endeavoring;  api —indeed;  siddhānām —of those who have achieved perfection:  kaścit —someone:  mām —Me:  netti —does know:  tattvatah —in fact.
TRANSLATION
Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.
PURPORT
There are various grades of men, and out of many thousands one may be sufficiently interested in transcendental realization to try to know what is the self, what is the body, and what is the Absolute Truth. Generally mankind is simply engaged in the animal propensities, namely eating, sleeping, defending and mating, and hardly anyone is interested in transcendental knowledge. The first six chapters of the  Gūtā  are meant for those who are interested in transcendental knowledge, in understanding the self, the Superself and the process of realization by  jñāna-yoga ,  dhyāna-yoga , and discrimination of the self from matter. However, Kṛṣṇa can known by persons who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Other transcendentalists may achieve impersonal Brahman realization, for this is easier understanding Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person, but at the He is beyond the knowledge of Brahman and Paramātmā. The  yogīs  and  jñānīs  are confused in their attempts to understand Kṛṣṇa, although greatest of the impersonalists, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya, has admitted in  Gūtā  commentary that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. his followers do not accept Kṛṣṇa as such, for it is very difficult to know Kṛṣṇa, even though one has transcendental realization of impersonal Brahman.
Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes, the primeval Lord Govinda.  Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam.  It is very difficult for the nondevotees to know Him. Although nondevotees declare that the path of  bhakti  or devotional service is very easy, they cannot practice it. If the path of  bhakti  is so easy, as the nondevotee class of men proclaim, then why do they take up the difficult path? Actually the path of  bhakti  is not easy. The so-called path of  bhakti  practiced by unauthorized persons