Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 4, Shloka 36 (4.36)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
अपि चेदसि पापेभ्यः सर्वेभ्यः पापकृत्तमः
सर्वं ज्ञानप्लवेनैव वृजिनं सन्तरिष्यसि
॥ 4.36 ॥
api cedasi pāpebhyaḥ sarvebhyaḥ pāpakṛttamaḥ
sarvaṃ jñānaplavenaiva vṛjinaṃ santariṣyasi
Translation
"Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners, by the boat of knowledge alone you will cross over (the ocean of) all sin."
Interpretation
The boat of knowledge. Sin is an ocean; knowledge is a boat. However vast the ocean, the boat carries you across.
Shankaracharya: jñānam eva plavaṃ kṛtvā … vṛjinārṇavaṃ pāpa-samudraṃ santariṣyasi — making knowledge itself your boat, you will cross the ocean of sin. And then the point also made at 4.21: dharmo 'pi iha mumukṣoḥ pāpam ucyate — here, for the seeker of liberation, even merit is called "sin" (because it too binds).
Acharya Ramanuja: sarvaṃ pūrvārjitaṃ vṛjina-rūpaṃ samudram ātma-viṣaya-jñāna-rūpa-plavena eva santariṣyasi — by the boat of knowledge of the self alone you will cross the whole ocean of sin accumulated in the past.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.