Bhagavad Gita · 13.35 · Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field·35 of 35
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोरेवमन्तरं ज्ञानचक्षुषा।भूतप्रकृतिमोक्षं च ये विदुर्यान्ति ते परम् ॥
kṣhetra-kṣhetrajñayor evam antaraṁ jñāna-chakṣhuṣhā
bhūta-prakṛiti-mokṣhaṁ cha ye vidur yānti te param
Sanskrit recitation
Matter, spirit, and freedom · 13.19–13.35 · Teaching
Translation
They 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.
Meaning
They who know through the eye of intuition opened by meditation and the instructions of the spiritual preceptor and the scriptures, that the field is insentient, the doer, changing and finite, and that the knower of the field (the Self) is pure consciousness, the nondoer, unchanging and infinite, and who also perceive the nonexistence of Nature, ignorance, the Unmanifested, the material cause of being -- they attain the Supreme. Through the attainment of Selfrealisation or knowledge of the Self, they are entirely liberated from the clutches or the influence of Maya (delusion) and ignorance. They do not assume any more bodies. They are not born again. They attain Kaivalya Moksha.In accordance with the doctrine of the Sankhyas, bondage and freedom do not pertain to the Self because It is always unattached and it is the nondoer and nonenjoyer and also without limbs or parts. But on account of Its union with Nature, It assumes agency through superimposition. When ignorance is annihilated through the knowledge of the Self, Nature which is conjoined with the Self is liberated. Then She gives up Her play or dance in front of the Spirit. She has discharged all Her duties well for the sake of the enjoyment and the release (Bhoga and Apavarga) of the Purusha (Spirit). Therefore the Sankhyas declare that bondage and freedom are states of Nature only
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→
- te
- they
- ye
- who
- cha
- and
- evam
- thus
- param
- the Supreme
- bhūta
- the living entity
- yānti
- approach
- antaram
- the difference
- viduḥ
- know
- kṣhetra
- the body
- kṣhetra-jñayoḥ
- of the knower of the body
- prakṛiti-mokṣham
- release from material nature
- jñāna-chakṣhuṣhā
- with the eyes of knowledge
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