koá¹i-jñÄni-madhye haya eka-jana 'mukta'
koá¹i-mukta-madhye 'durlabha' eka kṛṣṇa-bhakta
koá¹i-jñÄni-madhye - out of many millions of such wise men; haya - there is; eka-jana - one person; mukta - actually liberated; koá¹i-mukta-madhye - out of many millions of such liberated persons; durlabha - very rare; eka - one; kṛṣṇa-bhakta - pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
“Out of many millions of such wise men, one may actually become liberated [mukta], and out of many millions of such liberated persons, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to find.
In ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (10.2.32) it is said that due to their poor fund of knowledge, the jñÄnÄ«s are not actually liberated. They simply think that they are liberated. The perfection of knowledge culminates when one comes to the platform of knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahmeti paramÄtmeti bhagavÄn iti Å›abdyate. The Absolute Truth (satya-vastu) is described as Brahman, ParamÄtmÄ and BhagavÄn. Knowledge of impersonal Brahman and the Supersoul is imperfect until one comes to the platform of knowing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is therefore clearly said in this verse, koá¹i-mukta-madhye ‘durlabha’ eka kṛṣṇa-bhakta. Those who search after the knowledge of impersonal Brahman or localized ParamÄtmÄ are certainly accepted as liberated, but due to their imperfect knowledge they are described in ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam as vimukta-mÄninaḥ. Since their knowledge is imperfect, their conception of liberation is imperfect. Perfect knowledge is possible when one knows the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is supported by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (5.29):
bhoktÄraá¹ yajña-tapasÄá¹ sarva-loka-maheÅ›varam
suhá¹›daá¹ sarva-bhÅ«tÄnÄá¹ jñÄtvÄ mÄá¹ Å›Äntim á¹›cchati
“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.â€
Research is going on for the karmÄ«s, jñÄnÄ«s and yogÄ«s, but until the search is complete, no one can attain peace. Therefore the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ says, jñÄtvÄ mÄá¹ Å›Äntim á¹›cchati: one can actually attain peace when he knows Kṛṣṇa. This is described in the next verse.
