Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 Verse 16
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 5 श्लोक 16

ज्ञानेन तु तदज्ञानं येषां नाशितमात्मनः।
तेषामादित्यवज्ज्ञानं प्रकाशयति तत्परम्।।5.16।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
5.16 But in the case of those of whom that ignorance of theirs becomes destroyed by the knowledge (of the Self), their Knowledge, like the sun, reveals that supreme Reality.


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
5.16 While all these selves are thus deluded, in the case of enlightened souls, their delusive ignorance - which envelops knowledge and which is of the form of accumulated, beginningless and endless Karma - is destroyed by knowledge. As already described this knowledge is produced by the teachings of the scriptures about the real nature of the self, which are enriched by daily practice. The purity of this knowledge is unexcelled. And in the case of those selves who regain the knowledge that is natural to Them, it is found that it is unlimited and uncontracted and illumining everything like the sun.

Plurality of the selves in Their essence is expressly mentioned in the case of those whose ignorance is overcome, in the expression for those in the text. What was stated at the commencement, There never was a time when I did not exist (2.12) is expressed here with greater clarity. Moreover, this plurality is not due to limiting adjuncts imposed on a single universal self. For, as stated here, there cannot be any trace of such adjuncts for those whose ignorance is destroyed, and still They are described as a plurality. Hence knowledge is taught as an attribute inseparable from the essential nature of the self, because a difference between the self and its knowledge is made out in the statement, Knowledge, in their case illuminates like the sun. By the illustration of the sun, the relation of the knower to his knowledge is brought out to be similar to the luminous object and its luminosity. Therefore, it is appropriate to understand that knowledge contracts by Karma in the stage of Samsara and expands in the stage of Moksa (release). [In this system the Atman has two forms of Jnana or Knowledge - Dharmi-Jnana (self-awareness) and Dharma-bhuta-Jnana (awareness of objects other than itself). It is the latter that is contracted  by ignorance and expands by knowledge. See Intrdocution.]


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 5.16Jnaanena tu tad ajnaanam yeshaam naashitam aatmanah;
Teshaam aadityavaj jnaanam prakaashayati tatparam.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 5.16jñānena—by divine knowledge; tu—but; tat—that; ajñānam—ignorance; yeṣhām—whose; nāśhitam—has been destroyed; ātmanaḥ—of the self; teṣhām—their; āditya-vat—like the sun; jñānam—knowledge; prakāśhayati—illumines; tat—that; param—Supreme Entity