Sutra 4.31

तदा सर्वावरणमलापेतस्य ज्ञानस्यानन्त्याज्ज्ञेयमल्पम्॥३१॥

tadā sarva-āvaraṇa-malāpetasya jñānasya-ānantyāt jñeyamalpam ॥31॥

tadā=then; sarva=all; āvaraṇa=that which covers up, veils; mala=impurities; apetasya=devoid of, from which is removed; jñānasya=of knowledge; ānantyāt=because of the infinity of; jñeyam=knowable; alpam=little ॥31॥

Aranya

Then On Account Of The Infinitude Of Knowledge, Freed From The Cover Of All Impurities, The Knowables Appear As Few.

Taimni

Then, in consequence of the removel of all obscuration and impurities, that which can be known (through the mind) is but little in comparison with the infinity of knowledge (obtained in Enlightenment).

Sw. Satchidananda

Then all the coverings and impurities of knowledge are totally removed. Because of the infinity of this knowledge, what remains to be known is almost nothing.

Bryant

At this point, because of the unlimited nature of knowledge when all impurities have been removed from it, that which remains to be known is little.

Discussion

On the attainment of dharma-megha samadhi, the five kleshas listed in sutra 2.3 – avidya (ignorance), asmita (egoism), raga (likes), dvesha (dislikes), and abhinivesha (fear of death) – are destroyed. Moreover, the three kinds of karmas mentioned in sutra 4.7 – shukla (white), krishna (black) and mixed – are also destroyed. As we know klesha and karma act like cause and effect. The sequence of life and death called “samsara” is a result of these karmas which are stored in the karmashaya (the storehouse of karmas). Once these are removed, the yogi lives the life as a “jivanmukta” or liberated while still living. Although the yogi does not incur any fresh karma, he still has to go through the “prarabdha karma” which is the karma allocated at birth for this life span.

The true nature of chitta (mind field) is sattva which represents knowledge and illumination. Kleshas and karma represent a cloud imposed by tamas and rajas on the pure sattvic chitta. When this cloud is removed through the attainment of “dharma-megha samadhi”, all avidya is removed and true knowledge, in its infinite wisdom, shines through. In this brilliance of knowledge, what remains to be known is insignificant.

Vyasa provides a “strange” example of how after attaining dharma-megha samadhi, it is absurd for someone to take a re-birth. It is as absurd as “a blind man piercing pearls, a person without fingers stringing them, a person without a neck wearing the string, and a person without tongue praising it.”