Bhagavad Gita · 13.15 · Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field·15 of 35
सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम्।असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च ॥
sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṁ sarvendriya-vivarjitam
asaktaṁ sarva-bhṛich chaiva nirguṇaṁ guṇa-bhoktṛi cha
Sanskrit recitation
The field and the knower · 13.1–13.18 · Teaching
Translation
Shining 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.
Meaning
Brahman sees without eyes, hears without ears, smells without nose, eats without mouth, feels without skin, grasps without hands, walks without feet. He is the unseen seer, the unheard hearer, the unthought thinker. Other than Him there is no seer, no hearer, no thinker. He is the Self, the Inner Ruler, the Immortal. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III.7.23) He is free from the,alities of Nature and yet He is the enjoyer of the alities.All the senses The five organs of knowledge and the five organs of action, the inner senses, mind and intellect come under the term all the senses. The organs of action and those of knowledge perform their functions in conjunction with the mind and the intellect. They cannot function independently. Therefore, the mind and the intellect are included in the term all the senses.Brahman is transcendental and unmanifest, but It manifests Itself through the limiting adjuncts of the extrnal and the internal senses. As It is destitute of the senses It is unattached and yet It supports all. It is the support or substratum of everything. It is destitute of the alities of Nature and yet It is the enjoyer of those alities. Brahman is really mysterious.This verse is taken from the Svetasvataropanishad 3.17.
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→
- cha
- although
- eva
- indeed
- sarva
- all
- guṇa
- sense-objects
- asaktam
- unattached
- indriya
- senses
- ābhāsam
- the perciever
- nirguṇam
- beyond the three modes of material nature
- vivarjitam
- devoid of
- sarva-bhṛit
- the sustainer of all
- guṇa-bhoktṛi
- the enjoyer of the three modes of material nature
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