388
Въгазавад  -гўта́а Асі Іті Ісі
[Ch. 7]
with fruitive activities, and they search after mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.
TEXT 17
तेषां ज्ञानी नित्ययुक्त एकभक्तिर्विशिष्यते । प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोऽत्यर्थमहं स च मम प्रियः ॥१७॥
teṣāṁ jñānī nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir viśiṣyate priyo hi jñānino’ tyartham ahaṁ sa ca mama priyaḥ
teṣām —out of them;  jñānī —one in full knowledge;  nitya-yuktaḥ —always engaged;  eka —only one;  bhaktiḥ —devotional service;  viśiṣyate —especially;  priyaḥ —very dear;  hi —certainly;  jñāninaḥ —person in knowledge;  atyartham  highly;  aham —I am;  saḥ —he;  ca —also;  mama —Mine;  priyaḥ —dear.
TRANSLATION
Of these, the wise one who is in full knowledge in union with Me through pure devotional service is the best. For I am very dear to him, and he is dear to Me.
PURPORT
Free from all contaminations of material desires, the distressed, the inquisitive, the penniless, and the seeker after supreme knowledge can all become pure devotees. But out of them, he who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth and free from all material desires becomes a really pure devotee of the Lord. And of the four orders, the devotee who is in full knowledge and is at the same time engaged in devotional service is, the Lord says, the best. By searching after knowledge one realizes that his self is different from his material body, and when further advanced he comes to the knowledge of impersonal Brahman and Paramātmā. When one is fully purified, he realizes that his constitutional position is to be the eternal servant of God. So by association with pure devotees, the inquisitive, the distressed, the seeker after material amelioration and the man in knowledge, all become themselves pure. But in the preparatory stage, the