Bhagavad Gita · 13.3 · Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field·3 of 35
क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत।क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ॥
kṣhetra-jñaṁ chāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣhetreṣhu bhārata
kṣhetra-kṣhetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
Sanskrit recitation
The field and the knower · 13.1–13.18 · Teaching
Translation
Do thou also know Me as the knower of the field in all fields, O Arjuna. Knowledge of both the field and the knower of the field is considered by Me to be the knowledge.
Meaning
The fields are different but the knower of the field is one. The individual souls (Jivatmas) are different but the Supreme Soul (Paramatma) is one. Wherever there is mind, there are lifreath, egoism and the individual consciousness or reflected intelligence side by side. He who has the sense of duality will take birth again and again. This delusion of dulaity can only be removed by knowledge of the identity of the individual soul and the Absolute. I am happy, I am miserable, I am the doer of this action, and I am the enjoyer of this experience -- these are the experiences of all human beings. Therefore the individual soul is bound to Samsara and is subject to pleasure and pain, and the individual souls are in different bodies. But, the Supreme Soul is free from pleasure and pain. It is not bound to Samsara. It is eternally free. It is one without a second.If there is only one individual soul in all bodies, all should have the same experience at the same time. If Rama suffers from abdominal colic, Krishna also should experience the pain at the same time. If John experiences joy, Jacob also should have a similar experience. If Choudhury is stung by a scorpion, Banerjee also should suffer from the pain. But this is not the case. When Rama suffers, Krishna rejoices. When John is jubilan, Jacob is depressed
After Swami Sivananda
The field and the knower· 13.1–13.18→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 13.1Arjuna said, "I wish to learn about Nature and the Spirit, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and that which ought to be known, O Kesava."
- 13.2The Blessed Lord said, "O Arjuna, this body is called the field; he who knows it is called the knower of the field by those who know them."
13.3Do thou also know Me as the knower of the field in all fields, O Arjuna. Knowledge of both the field and the knower of the field is considered by Me to be the knowledge.
- 13.4Hear from Me in brief what the field is, of what nature it is, what its modifications are, whence it is, who He is, and what His powers are.
- 13.5Sages have sung in many ways, with various distinctive chants and also with suggestive words indicative of the Absolute, full of reasoning and decisive.
- 13.6The great elements, egoism, intellect, and also the Unmanifested Nature, the ten senses, and one mind, and the five objects of the senses.
- 13.7Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (body), intelligence, and fortitude—the field has thus been briefly described with its modifications.
- 13.8Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, forgiveness, uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, and self-control.
- 13.9Indifference to the objects of the senses and also absence of egoism; perceiving the evil in birth, death, old age, sickness, and pain.
- 13.10Non-attachment, non-identification of the Self with son, wife, home, and the rest, and constant even-mindedness in the face of the attainment of both desirable and undesirable.
- 13.11Unswerving devotion to Me through the Yoga of non-separation, resorting to solitary places, and a distaste for the company of people.
- 13.12Constancy in Self-knowledge, the perception of the end of true knowledge—this is declared to be knowledge, and what is opposed to it is ignorance.
- 13.13I will declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality; the beginningless Supreme Brahman, which is neither being nor non-being.
- 13.14With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists in the worlds, enveloping all.
- 13.15Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without being attached to them; unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of qualities, yet the experiencer of them.
- 13.16It is within and without all beings, both the unmoving and the moving; It is subtle and unknowable, and It is near and far away.
- 13.17Undivided yet, It exists as if divided in beings; It is to be known as the supporter of beings; It devours and It generates.
- 13.18That Light of all lights is said to be beyond darkness: knowledge, the knowable, and the goal of knowledge, seated in the hearts of all.
Word-by-word→
- api
- only
- cha
- also
- tat
- that
- yat
- which
- mama
- my
- mām
- me
- matam
- opinion
- sarva
- all
- viddhi
- know
- bhārata
- scion of Bharat
- jñānam
- knowledge
- kṣhetra
- the field of activities
- kṣhetreṣhu
- in individual fields of activities
- kṣhetra-jñam
- the knower of the field
- kṣhetra-jñayoḥ
- of the knower of the field
Themes
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