Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 29

आश्चर्यवत्पश्यति कश्चिदेन-माश्चर्यवद्वदति तथैव चान्यः | आश्चर्यवच्चैनमन्यः शृणोति श्रुत्वाप्येनं वेद न चैव कश्चित् ||

āścaryavat paśyati kaścid enam āścaryavad vadati tathaiva cānyaḥ āścaryavac cainam anyaḥ śṛṇoti śrutvāpy enaṁ veda na caiva kaścit

One sees the Self as wondrous, another speaks of It as wondrous, another hears of It as wondrous, yet even having heard, no one truly knows It.

Krishna reveals a paradox: everyone encounters the Self ('kaścit'), yet almost no one truly knows it ('veda na caiva kaścit'). The triple repetition of 'āścaryavat' (wondrous)—seeing, speaking, hearing—emphasizes that consciousness is inherently astonishing. Yet here's the twist: 'śrutvāpy enaṁ veda na' (even having heard, one does not know). Why? Because you can't stand outside awareness to examine it—you ARE it. Like an eye trying to see itself without a mirror. The word 'veda' (knows) suggests conceptual knowing: you can hear about consciousness, describe it perfectly, even have glimpses, but true 'knowing' dissolves the knower-known duality. Perhaps consciousness is so obvious it's overlooked—you're looking THROUGH awareness at objects, missing what's aware. Or maybe no one 'knows' it because there's no separate knower, only consciousness recognizing itself. This verse both inspires ('it's wondrous!') and humbles ('you won't grasp it conceptually'), pointing beyond intellectual understanding.