Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 - Jnana Vignana Yoga - Sloka 3

The entire content of this mail is from Swami Chidbhavananda's translation of The Bhagavad Gita, published by Ramakrishna Mission.

Prakriti - Low and High - 1-7

1 Gita Sloka  every day - Chapter 7 - Jnana Vignana Yoga - Sloka 3

Krishna leaving for Mathura

Manushyanam sahasreshu Kahachid yatati sidhaye I

Yatatam api siddhanam kahachin mam vetti tattvatah II sloka 3

मनुष्याणां  सहस्रेषु कश्चिद् यत् अति सिद्धये   ।

यततां अपि सिद्धानां कस्चिन माम वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।। श्लोक ३

Among thousands of men scarcely one strives for perfection, and of those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows Me in truth.

The original word for perfection is siddhi, which is a comprehensive term connoting quite a number of meanings all pregnant with great ideas. Fulfilment, accomplishment, complete attainment, success, the hitting  of a mark, healing of a disease, coming into force, vailidity, payment, indisputable conclusion, solution of a problem, maturity, preparation, cooking, prosperity, good luck, bliss and beatitude, complete sanctification, final emancipation, the acquisition of supernatural yogic powers - all these and more are indicated by this one wrd - siddhi. It maybe noted that people are all striving  for the achievement of the one or the other of these features. Among them he who aspires for the attainment of the divinity, stands supreme according to the Lord. 

The higher the ideal, the harder is the achievement of it. Pitfalls are too many in the path to divine perfection. Competency for It is rarely found among men. The right attitude, the right understanding, the right adjustment, the right application - these are the fourfold indispensable virtues that lead the aspirant to divinity. Men who are fully equipped with all these divine qualities are rare indeed. 

The devotees who enter the temple,  cannot go out of it without receiving some consecrated food. Some get it immediately while the others have to wait long before being blessed with  it. But nobody is denied the privilege of obtaining it. Similarly mukti is assured for all. Some get it in this birth. Others have to access it after 2-3 births, while yet others have to wait and go through countless births before becoming competent for emancipation. But all are destined for mukti some time or the other. 

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

It is the knowledge of God that makes man fit for mukti. But God- knowledge is rather vague and abstruse for the ordinary man. He has therefore to be put in the path that is discernable to him. Proceeding from the known to the unknown is natural for him. The process is explained in the following sloka