Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 14: The Three Qualities of Nature
Bhagavad Gita 14.1
परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम् ।
यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनयः सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गताः ॥
paraṃ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṃ jñānamuttamam | yajjñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṃ siddhimito gatāḥ ||
I will again declare that supreme knowledge, the best of all knowledge. Knowing it, all the sages have gone from this world to the highest perfection.
Modern context
This chapter is about the three gunas, the qualities of nature that shape every mind and every situation. Krishna calls it the best of all knowledge. That may seem a large claim for what is, in effect, a map of temperament. But anyone who has tried to change a habit knows how much depends on understanding the forces at work in one's own mind. To know them is to gain some power over them.