Bhagavad Gita · 13.24 · Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field·24 of 35
य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैःसह।सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते ॥
ya evaṁ vetti puruṣhaṁ prakṛitiṁ cha guṇaiḥ
saha sarvathā vartamāno ’pi na sa bhūyo ’bhijāyate
Sanskrit recitation
Matter, spirit, and freedom · 13.19–13.35 · Teaching
Translation
He who thus knows the Spirit and Matter together with their qualities, in whatever condition he may be, he is not reborn.
Meaning
One who knows the Soul and Nature with its alities, whatever his conduct may be, frees himself from the cycle of births and deaths. Such is the advantage he gains from the discriminative knowledge of Spirit and Matter. He knows that he is eternal and changeless and that all changes are due to the modifications of Nature on account of its alities. The self through ignorance identifies itself with the body and suffers rirth.In whatsoever condition he may be, whether he is engaged in prescribed or forbidden acts (like Indra who killed the Purohita Visvarupa and many Sannyasins), he is not born again, because the,actions (which are the seeds of rirth), of one who knows the Spirit and Matter, who has gained the knowledge of the Self, are burnt by the fire of that knowledge. Just as the seeds that are fried in fire do not sprout again, so also the actions burnt in the fire of knowledge cannot produce new bodies or further births. In his case they are Karmabhasa (mere semblance of Karma). They are not effective causes and cannot produce further births. A burnt cloth cannot serve the purpose of the cloth.Those actions which are done with egoism and desire (expectation of fruits) will produce fruits or results. In the case of a wise man, the seeds of evil, viz., ignorance, egoism, attachment, etc., are burnt by the fire of knowledge
After Swami Sivananda
Matter, spirit, and freedom· 13.19–13.35→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 13.19Thus, the field, as well as knowledge and the knowable, have been briefly stated. My devotee, knowing this, enters into My being.
- 13.20Know that Nature (matter) and the Spirit are both beginningless, and know also that all modifications and qualities are born from Nature.
- 13.21In the production of the effect and the cause, Nature (matter) is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, the soul is said to be the one responsible.
- 13.22The soul seated in Nature experiences the qualities born of Nature; attachment to the qualities is the cause of its birth in good and evil wombs.
- 13.23The Supreme Soul in this body is also called the observer, the permitter, the sustainer, the enjoyer, the great Lord, and the Supreme Self.
13.24He who thus knows the Spirit and Matter together with their qualities, in whatever condition he may be, he is not reborn.
- 13.25Some behold the Self within themselves through meditation, others through the Yoga of knowledge, and still others through the Yoga of action.
- 13.26Others, too, who do not know thus, worship, having heard of It from others; they, too, cross beyond death, regarding what they have heard as the supreme refuge.
- 13.27Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou, O best of the Bharatas (Arjuna), that it is from the union of the field and its knower.
- 13.28He who sees the Supreme Lord existing truly in all beings, the imperishable within the perishable, sees indeed.
- 13.29For he who truly sees the same Lord dwelling everywhere does not destroy the Self by the self; rather, he attains the highest goal.
- 13.30He sees, who sees that all actions are performed solely by Nature and that the Self is without action.
- 13.31When a person sees all beings as resting in the One and emanating from the One alone, they then become Brahman.
- 13.32Being without beginning, devoid of any qualities, the Supreme Self, imperishable, though dwelling in the body, O Arjuna, neither acts nor is tainted.
- 13.33As the all-pervading ether is not tainted, due to its subtlety, so the Self seated everywhere in the body is not tainted either.
- 13.34Just as the one sun illuminates the entire world, so too does the Lord of the field (Supreme Self) illuminate the entire field, O Arjuna.
- 13.35They who, by the eye of knowledge, perceive the distinction between the field and its knower, as well as the liberation from the Nature of being, go to the Supreme.
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- api
- although
- cha
- and
- evam
- thus
- saha
- with
- saḥ
- they
- vetti
- understand
- yaḥ
- who
- bhūyaḥ
- again
- sarvathā
- in every way
- guṇaiḥ
- the three modes of nature
- puruṣham
- Puruṣh
- abhijāyate
- take birth
- prakṛitim
- the material nature
- vartamānaḥ
- situated
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