Bhagavad Gita · 13.32 · Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field·32 of 35
अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः।शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते ॥
anāditvān nirguṇatvāt paramātmāyam avyayaḥ
śharīra-stho ’pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate
Sanskrit recitation
Matter, spirit, and freedom · 13.19–13.35 · Teaching
Translation
Being without beginning, devoid of any qualities, the Supreme Self, imperishable, though dwelling in the body, O Arjuna, neither acts nor is tainted.
Meaning
The Supreme Self is beyond Nature. Therefore It is without alities. It is Nirguna. The activity in Nature is really due to its own alities which inhere in it. The Supreme Self existed before the body came into being and will continue to be after its dissolution. It is eternally the same and imperishable.Avyaya That which is free from the changes of birth and death or appearance and destruction. That which has a beginning has birth. After the object is born it is subject to the changes of being (growth, decay, etc.). As the Self is birthless, It is free from the changes of state (existence, birth, growth, change, decay and death). As the Self is free from all sorts of functions, It is Avyaya. Even if the reflection of the sun in the water moves, the sun does not move a bit. Even so the Supreme Self is not touched by the fruits of action as It is not the doer, as It is without the alities of Nature, or limbs, indivisible, devoid of parts, without action, beginningless and unattached and causeless.This Supreme Self is free from the three kinds of differences, viz., Sajatiyabheda, Vijatiyabheda and Svagatabheda. A mango tree is different from a fig tree. This is Sajatiyabheda. A mango tree is different from a stone. This is Vijatiyabheda. In the same mango tree there is difference between leaves, flowers and fruits. This is Svagatabheda
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
- nor
- api
- although
- ayam
- this
- karoti
- acts
- parama
- the Supreme
- ātmā
- soul
- lipyate
- is tainted
- kaunteya
- Arjun, the the son of Kunti
- avyayaḥ
- imperishable
- anāditvāt
- being without beginning
- nirguṇatvāt
- being devoid of any material qualities
- śharīra-sthaḥ
- dwelling in the body
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