Bhagavad Gita 18.55

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā

viśate tad-anantaram

As I truly am, know without distortion,

Through the path of loving devotion;

Knowing me thus in reality,

Enter then into my infinity.

My dear Lord, you are not merely a philosophical concept to be figured out through the analysis of the head. You are a living, loving person to be approached and appreciated through the affection and attraction of the heart.

O omniscient Lord, when my journey toward you begins through philosophy, I view existence—and thereby its source—as a puzzle to be solved. Using my power of reason, guided by your words of revelation, I learn to perceive the ephemerality and insubstantiality of this world of matter. I also sense beyond it the existence of a more substantial and imperishable spiritual reality.

O Lord of love, that spiritual realization is consequential, but not comprehensive. It may take me out of my bondage to matter, but it will not take me to you, the peak of spiritual realization. You do not want to force me into loving you, so you will not reveal the irresistible attractiveness of your transcendental personality unless I approach you with a heart filled with devotion—or at least a heart fueled by the desire for devotion.

O benevolent Lord, let my spiritual quest extend beyond my head, to encompass my heart, and indeed to be energized primarily by my heart. May I thus seek you as the peak of spiritual realization. By your mercy, may I gradually see you as the supreme shelter for my innate longing to love and be loved.

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18.55 One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.