Srimad BhagavadGita

In the earlier three ślokas Kṛṣṇa explained to Arjuna that even if he was a believer of dehātmavāda (the doctrine that body itself is the soul) there was no reason for him to grieve.

Here, Kṛṣṇa states that this soul which is unlike the body has an inherent nature which causes great wonder. It is very rare for one who sees the soul, speaks about it or hears about it, to know with certainty about the soul on account of seeing, speaking or hearing. By saying so, Kṛṣṇa reaffirms the doctrines like the soul's eternal nature, etc. which HE established earlier. Similar śloka can be found in the upanishads too with a difference in the usage of a few words.

Kṛṣṇa says,"Only one in crores sees this soul which is marvellous, similarly another one in crores speaks about this soul which is marvellous and still another in many crores hears about this soul as being marvellous. Even upon hearing in this way, no one is able to truly comprehend this soul."

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āścaryavat enam (This soul which is marvellous) This soul which is not like any insentient substance, which has the previously described qualities like eternality, etc, shines forth as very special amongst all, due to its distinct nature. This causes great marvel.

A few meanings quoted by some for āścaryavat enam are, 'one who sees this soul as a marvel', 'one who is marvellous, sees the soul'. However since the context of this śloka is the soul's glorification, the meaning stated by us that, 'one who sees the soul which is marvelous' is appropriate. 

kaścit eva paśyati (Not all conscious entities can get a vision of the soul. Out of many thousands one might behold it)

    kaścit paśyati Out of the infinite conscious beings who are surviving mechanically like animals, only the one

who endeavours greatly to get rid of his sins, who performs many acts of merit (puṇyas) and thereby gains

good knowledge, beholds the soul.

tatha āścaryavat enam anyaḥ vadati Similarly, some fortunate being out of crores tells others about this marvelous soul. Since the word anyaḥ is used here in place of the kaścit used in the earlier and later sentences, its meaning is also the same.

āścaryavat enam anyaḥ eva śṛṇoti Similarly only one who performs great penance for this marvelous soul hears about it.

śrutvāpi enam na caiva kaścit veda Even after hearing, no one can truly know about this soul as it is comprehensively i.e inclusive of all its qualities determined by scriptural and logical evidence.

Saying that no one can know about this soul will contradict what the other ślokas like vedāvināsinam..., etc. say. Moreover, that will make all the śāstras which talk about the soul purposeless. Hence the meaning is to be understood as, 'no one can know it as it actually is'. The 'ca' in 'na caiva' is an anukta samuchchayam (i.e it refers to all the statements which are not specifically mentioned here, but are part of the same text being discussed)

It is concluded that anyone who beholds this soul, who speaks about it or hears about it too, cannot actually behold the soul as is, speak about it as is or hear about it as is.

Summary:

​With the words kaścit paśyati-vadati-śṛṇoti-na veda, Kṛṣṇa wishes to tell Arjuna that, 'It is a known fact that it is very rare to find someone who has seen that soul to be distinct from the body. Even if such a person is found by chance, like it was said earlier that one in thousand will speak about it, to find such a person is very rare. If by chance we find such a person, to find amongst them one who speaks the secrets about the soul is rare to find. Knowing how rare this possibility is, there is no need to separately mention that it is very hard to find one who reveals the secrets about the soul exactly as is. Even if such a rare speaker is found, a listener is very rare to find, more so an eligible listener like you who is full of all the qualities needed in a disciple, O Arjuna!'

Alternatively, in accordance with the śruti statement ātmā vā are śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyaḥ dṛṣtavyaḥ Bṛhadāraṇyaka Up 2.4.5, by noting that in this śloka Kṛṣṇa has quoted the sequence in the descending order, it must be understood by rearranging the sequence as śṛṇoti, vadati, paśyati i.e starting from hearing to realisation of the soul as,

Listening about the soul.

    Followed by contemplation on the soul and developing firm faith in it as a result.

    Followed by dwelling in constant contemplation and thus acquiring correct understanding about the soul.

    Followed by meditating and thus obtaining a vision of the soul.

    Followed by realising the soul accurately after fructifying in the vision of the soil for a long time, just like an

experienced gemstone expert recognises the gem's quality correctly.

Thus Kṛṣṇa is giving the order for realisation of the soul as śravanaṃ, mananaṃ and nididhyāsanaṃ.

The rarity in comprehending the soul is highlighting in this śloka by Kṛṣṇa. This is done to address the question Arjuna might have that, 'Why am I not able to see this soul as different from the body?' The gist of the śloka answers this, 'When it is such a rare possibility that one knows the soul as it is, there is no wonder in you not being able to comprehend it.'

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