The Field and the One Who Knows It

Chapter 13 · Verse 1

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च।एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव॥

Arjuna said: Nature and the person, the field and the one who knows the field, knowledge and what is to be known - Krishna, I want to understand these.

Three pairs, named as pairs.

Chapter 13 · Verse 2

इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते।एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः॥

Krishna said: This body is called the field, Arjuna. Whoever knows it is called the knower of the field, by those who understand such things.

The definition, in one line, with no preamble.

Chapter 13 · Verse 3

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत।क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम॥

Know me also as the knower of the field, in every field, Arjuna. Understanding the field and the knower of the field - that, in my view, is knowledge.

The claim widens, and quickly.

Chapter 13 · Verse 4

तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक्च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत् ।स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे शृणु॥

What that field is, what it is like, how it changes, and where it comes from; and who he is, and what his powers are - hear that from me, in brief.

Six questions, listed in order, and then answered in order over the next fifteen verses.

Chapter 13 · Verse 5

ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधैः पृथक् ।ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्चितैः॥

The sages have sung this in many ways, in various hymns, and in the aphorisms about Brahman - carefully reasoned and settled.

He names his sources.

Chapter 13 · Verse 6

महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च।इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः॥

The five great elements, the sense of I, the intellect, and the unmanifest; the eleven senses, and the five objects the senses move among…

The inventory of the field begins, and it is a list of parts.

Chapter 13 · Verse 7

इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतनाधृतिः।एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम्॥

… wanting, hating, pleasure, pain, the body as a whole, awareness, and firmness. This, in brief, is the field, together with the ways it changes.

The list ends with the inner weather.

Chapter 13 · Verse 8

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम्।आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः॥

Not needing to be thought well of; not putting on a display; doing no harm; patience; straightness; service to a teacher; cleanliness; steadiness; holding oneself in check…

Here the chapter turns, and the turn is abrupt.

Chapter 13 · Verse 9

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च।जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम्॥

… not clinging to what the senses want; no sense of being someone in particular; seeing clearly the trouble and the fault in birth, in age, in illness, in pain…

One item here is uncomfortable and it is the last.

Chapter 13 · Verse 10

असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु ।नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु॥

… not holding on; no gripping at children, wife, home and the rest; and a constant evenness of mind whether what arrives is wanted or unwanted…

This is the verse people misquote.

Chapter 13 · Verse 11

मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी ।विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि॥

… unbroken devotion to me, joined to nothing else; a liking for quiet places; no taste for crowds of people…

Two of these three are about where you prefer to be.

Chapter 13 · Verse 12

अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम्।एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोन्यथा॥

… constancy in the knowledge of the self, and keeping in view what the knowledge of truth is for. All this is called knowledge. Whatever is other than this is ignorance.

The list closes, and the definition lands.

Chapter 13 · Verse 13

ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुते।अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते॥

I will tell you what is to be known - knowing it, a person reaches what does not die. It is Brahman, without beginning, resting on me; it is said to be neither existent nor non-existent.

The last clause is the one to stop at.

Chapter 13 · Verse 14

सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम्।सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति॥

Hands and feet everywhere, eyes and heads and faces everywhere, ears everywhere - it stands, covering everything in the world.

Everywhere, five times in two lines.

Chapter 13 · Verse 15

सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम्।असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च॥

It shines through the workings of all the senses, and is without any sense of its own. Unattached, and yet carrying everything; without the three strands, and yet the one for whom they happen.

Four contradictions, in two lines, with no attempt to resolve them.

Chapter 13 · Verse 16

बहिरन्तश्च भूतानामचरं चरमेव च।सूक्ष्मत्वात्तदविज्ञेयं दूरस्थं चान्तिके च तत्॥

Outside beings and inside them; unmoving and moving; too fine to be made out; far away, and close.

Four pairs, and the last one is the one that stays with you.

Chapter 13 · Verse 17

अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम्।भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च॥

Undivided, and yet standing in beings as though divided. It is to be known as what carries beings, and takes them in, and brings them forth.

Vibhaktam iva - as though divided.

Chapter 13 · Verse 18

ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमसः परमुच्यते।ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं ज्ञानगम्यं हृदि सर्वस्य विष्ठितम्॥

It is the light of lights, said to be beyond darkness. It is knowledge, and what is to be known, and what knowledge arrives at. It sits in the heart of everyone.

Three roles, one subject: the knowing, the thing known, and the arriving.

Chapter 13 · Verse 19

इति क्षेत्रं तथा ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं चोक्तं समासतः।मद्भक्त एतद्विज्ञाय मद्भावायोपपद्यते॥

So the field, and knowledge, and what is to be known have been told in brief. My devotee, understanding this, becomes fit for my own nature.

He closes the section and names what it was for.

Chapter 13 · Verse 20

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि।विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसंभवान्॥

Know that nature and the person are both without beginning. And know that the changes, and the three strands, are born of nature.

Two things, both beginningless.

Chapter 13 · Verse 21

कार्यकारणकर्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिरुच्यते।पुरुषः सुखदुःखानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते॥

Nature is said to be the cause in the matter of doing - of what is done and the means of doing it. The person is said to be the cause in the experiencing of pleasure and pain.

A clean division, and it is not the one people expect.

Chapter 13 · Verse 22

पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान्।कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु॥

The person, seated in nature, experiences the strands born of nature. Attachment to those strands is the reason for birth in good wombs and bad ones.

Saṅga - attachment, sticking.

Chapter 13 · Verse 23

उपद्रष्टाऽनुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः।परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः॥

And in this body there is also a higher person - the one who watches and permits, who supports, who experiences, the great lord, called the supreme self.

Five words for the same presence, and the first two sit oddly together.

Chapter 13 · Verse 24

य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैःसह।सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते॥

Whoever knows the person and nature along with the strands in this way is not born again, however he happens to be living.

The last clause is the surprise.

Chapter 13 · Verse 25

ध्यानेनात्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिदात्मानमात्मना।अन्ये सांख्येन योगेन कर्मयोगेन चापरे॥

Some see the self in themselves, by themselves, through meditation. Others by working things out. Others by the practice of action.

Three routes, named without ranking.

Chapter 13 · Verse 26

अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्तः श्रुत्वाऽन्येभ्य उपासते।तेऽपि चातितरन्त्येव मृत्युं श्रुतिपरायणाः॥

Others, not knowing in these ways, worship because they have heard it from others. They too cross beyond dying, holding to what they have heard.

A fourth route, and it is the one with no method at all.

Chapter 13 · Verse 27

यावत्सञ्जायते किञ्चित्सत्त्वं स्थावरजङ्गमम्।क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञसंयोगात्तद्विद्धि भरतर्षभ॥

Whatever comes into being, Arjuna, moving or unmoving, know that it comes from the joining of the field and the one who knows the field.

One sentence, and it covers everything that exists.

Chapter 13 · Verse 28

समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्।विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति॥

Whoever sees the supreme lord standing equally in all beings, not perishing among the perishing - that person sees.

Yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati - who sees, he sees.

Chapter 13 · Verse 29

समं पश्यन्हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम्।न हिनस्त्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम्॥

Seeing the lord equally present everywhere, he does not injure himself by himself. And so he reaches the highest.

Na hinasty ātmanātmānam - he does not harm himself by himself.

Chapter 13 · Verse 30

प्रकृत्यैव च कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि सर्वशः।यः पश्यति तथाऽऽत्मानमकर्तारं स पश्यति॥

Whoever sees that actions are performed in every way by nature alone, and that the self is not the doer - that person sees.

The sharpest version of the claim, and it is easy to misuse.

Chapter 13 · Verse 31

यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यति।तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा॥

When he sees that the separate states of beings all rest in one, and spread out from that one - at that point he reaches Brahman.

Resting in one, and spreading out from it.

Chapter 13 · Verse 32

अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः।शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते॥

Because it is without beginning and without the three strands, this supreme self does not perish. Though it dwells in the body, Arjuna, it does not act and it is not stained.

Na karoti na lipyate - it does not act, and it is not stained.

Chapter 13 · Verse 33

यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते।सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते॥

As space, going everywhere, is not stained because it is so fine - so the self, present everywhere in the body, is not stained.

Space, again.

Chapter 13 · Verse 34

यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविः।क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत॥

As one sun lights up this whole world, so the owner of the field lights up the whole field, Arjuna.

One sun, one field, one lighting.

Chapter 13 · Verse 35

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोरेवमन्तरं ज्ञानचक्षुषा।भूतप्रकृतिमोक्षं च ये विदुर्यान्ति ते परम्॥

Those who know, with the eye of knowledge, the difference between the field and the one who knows the field, and the freeing of beings from nature - they reach the highest.

Jñāna-cakṣuṣā - with the eye of knowledge.