Bhagavad Gita · 13.14 · Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field·14 of 35
सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम्।सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ॥
sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat sarvato
’kṣhi-śhiro-mukham sarvataḥ śhrutimal loke sarvam āvṛitya tiṣhṭhati
Sanskrit recitation
The field and the knower · 13.1–13.18 · Teaching
Translation
With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists in the worlds, enveloping all.
Meaning
He (the knower of the field or Para Brahman) pervades everything in this world. He fills and surrounds this world with Himself. He abides in the universe enveloping everything.In the previous verse it is said that the Brahman Which is to be known is neither being nor nonbeing. One may think that It is nonentity or void or nothing. In order to remove this misapprehension, the Lord says in this verse that the knowable has hands and feet everywhere, etc. It directs the mind and the senses to do their proper functions. This is only the manifest aspect of Saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes).Just as the enginedriver drives the engine, so also the knowable or the knower of the field drieves the bodyengine. It is the Inner Ruler. It is the innermost Self. It is the support, substratum or basis for this world, body, mind, lifeforce and the senses. The existence of Brahman is determined or ascertained or indicated by the existence of the limiting adjuncts, viz., body, mind and senses, because there must be selfconsciousness behind their activities. How can you call It nonexistence thenJust as the rope is not affected by the alities or the defects of the illusory superimposed snake, so also Para Brahman (the knower of the field) is not affected by the superimposed world, body, senses, mind and the lifeforce
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→
- tat
- that
- loke
- in the universe
- mukham
- faces
- pādam
- feet
- sarvam
- everything
- akṣhi
- eyes
- pāṇi
- hands
- śhiraḥ
- heads
- sarvataḥ
- everywhere
- āvṛitya
- pervades
- śhruti-mat
- having ears
- tiṣhṭhati
- exists
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