The meaning of Bhagavad-Gītā 5.16

Bhagavad-Gītā 5.16 is as follows —

jñānena tu tad ajñānaṁ yeṣāṁ nāśitam ātmanaḥ | teṣām ādityavaj jñānaṁ prakāśayati tatparam ||

This verse is rather difficult to understand. The reason is that the word jñāna appears in two ways: first in the instrumental case in the first line and in the accusative case in the second line. The subject of this verse, namely the agent of the verb prakāśayati, is not explicit. There also is the word ajñāna, which seems ambiguous. What is going on?

Below, I will translate Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī’s commentary to explain the verse. He starts his commentary by explaining the overall sense —

yathāvidyā tasya jñānam āvṛṇoti, tathaivāparā tasya vidyā-śaktir avidyāṁ vināśya jñānaṁ prakāśayatīty arthaḥ | 

As avidyā covers his jñānam, in the same way, his other vidyā-śakti, destroying avidyā, illuminates jñānam.

Here, there are three distinct ontological principles: vidyā, avidyā, and jnānam. Vidyā and avidyā are śaktis of māyā, whereas jñānam refers to the intrinsic awareness of the jīva. The sense of the verse is that vidyā reveals jñānam after destroying avidyā. All this is very cryptic, but his commentary below helps us understand it better. First, he glosses the individual terms in the verse —

jñānena vidyā-śaktyā | ajñānam avidyām |

The word ‘jñānena’ means ‘by vidyā śakti’. The word ajñānam means avidyā [in the accusative case]. 

We see that Śrī Viśvanātha provides glosses for the words jñāna and ajñāna in the first line of the verse. A word of caution: here the word ‘jñāna’ is different from the word jñāna in his opening statement above! That jñāna is actually carried forward from the preceding verse 5.15, whose second line starts like this:

ajñānenāvṛtaṁ jñānaṁ: jñāna is covered by ajñāna.

Śrī Viśvanātha explains:

kintu tadīyā khalu yā śaktir avidyā saiva jīva-jñānam āvṛṇoti ity āha ajñānenāvidyayā | jñānaṁ jīvasya svābhāvikam |
However, His śakti, which is avidyā, by itself covers the jīva’s jñānam. Here, the word ajñānena means by avidyā. The jñānam [that is covered] is natural to the jīva.

He then writes —

teṣāṁ jīvānāṁ jñānam eva kartṛ ādityavad ity-āditya-prabhā yathāndhakāraṁ vināśya ghaṭa-paṭādikaṁ prakāśayati, tathaiva vidyayaivāvidyāṁ vināśya taj-jīva-niṣṭhaṁ jñānaṁ param aprākṛtaṁ prakāśayati

The jñānam [i.e. vidyā] of those jīvas [whose vidyā has destroyed avidyā], is the agent, which, destroying avidyā by vidyā, illuminates the non-material (param) jñānam present in the jīvātmā [tat]. The word ‘āditya-vat’ means that [it does so just as] the light of the sun, destroying darkness, illuminates pots and clothes. 

To make sense of all this, we have to understand the meaning of the words avidyā and vidyā first. Avidyā produces the concept, “I am this body”. Vidyā produces the concept, “I am not this body”. The jnānam in the second line of the verse, that is revealed by vidyā, is the cognition, “I am ātmā”, which Śrī Viśvanātha refers to as svābhāvika, which can be taken to mean natural or intrinsic. This jnānam, is different, of course, from the first line where the jnānam refers to vidyā. This jnānam is what is covered by avidyā (which was explained in 5.15).

The question arises – how can vidyā reveal this jnānam, like the sun illuminates objects? As I have discussed elsewhere on this site, in a mind that is completely stilled due to high sattva guṇa (vidyā), the ātmā reveals itself to itself; this is the ātmā’s svayam-prakāśatva or self-revealing śakti. So the analogy appears to fail – vidyā’s function is primarily to destroy avidyā. After that, the ātmā would reveal itself to itself, rather than vidyā revealing the jīva’s jnānam. I consulted Babaji on this point, and he explained it as follows:

Why did the ātmā not reveal itself before avidyā was dispelled by vidyā? This means that when vidyā dispels avidyā, then only ātma-jñāna is revealed. That is tantamount to vidyā revealing the atma-jñana.

Summary

The translation of 5.16 is as follows:

jñānena tu tad ajñānaṁ yeṣāṁ nāśitam ātmanaḥ | teṣām ādityavaj jñānaṁ prakāśayati tatparam ||

For those jīvas, whose avidyā (ajñānaṁ) has been destroyed by vidyā (jñānena), within their own self (ātmanaḥ), [vidyā] illuminates the non-material (param) jñānam present in the jīvātmā [tat], just like the light of the sun [which destroys darkness, and illuminates objects like pots and clothes].