Sanskrit
न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते । तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति ॥
na hi jñānena sadṛśaṃ pavitram iha vidyate tat svayaṃ yoga-saṃsiddhaḥ kālenātmani vindati
Translation
Verily there is no purifier in this world like wisdom; he that is perfected in yoga finds it in the Self in due season.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
No purifier in this world equals wisdom, and the one perfected in yoga finds it within the Self in due season, kālena — not instantly, and not from outside. That qualifier matters: jñāna isn’t presented as a technique acquired like a skill but as something already present in the Self that reveals itself once yoga has done its preparatory work, which is why the chapter keeps circling back to yoga as jñāna’s precondition rather than treating the two as rival paths.