56. The Field And The Knower Of The Field

You are a wave in the ocean of Existence. When the wave understands that it is not separate from the ocean, it drops its resistance and merges with the ocean.

arjuna uvāca prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva kṣetraṁ kṣetrajñameva ca I etad veditum icchāmi jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ ca keśava II 13.1

13.1 Arjuna says: O Keśava, I wish to know and understand about prakṛti and puruṣa, passive and active energies. The field [kṣetra] and the knower of the field [kṣetrajña], and of knowledge [jñānaṁ] and of the end of knowledge [jñeyaṃ].

śrībhagavānuvāca idam śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate I etadyo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ II 13.2

13.2 Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa replies: This body, O Kaunteya, is called the field, kṣetra. Anyone who knows this body is called the knower of the field, kṣetrajña.

kṣetrajñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarvakṣetreṣu bhārata I kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama II 13.3 13.3 O Bhārata, know that I am the Knower in all bodies [kṣetrajña], the witness. In my opinion knowledge means the understanding of this body or the field of activity as well as the Knower of this field.

tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca yadvikāri yataś ca yat I sa ca yo yat prabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me sṛṇu II 13.4

13.4 Understand my summary of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, how it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are.

ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaṁ chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak I brahma-sūtra padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ II 13.5

13.5 That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is described by various sages with chants in the scriptures It is presented with all reasoning as to cause and effect.

mahā-bhūtāny ahaṅkāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca I indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca pañca cendriya gocarāḥ II 13.6

icchādveṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṅghātaścetanā dhṛtiḥ I etatkṣetraṁ samāsena savikāram udāhṛtam II 13.7

13.6,7 The field of activities and its interactions are said to be: the five elements of nature, ego, intelligence, the mind, the formless, the ten senses of perception and action, as well as the five objects of senses and desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions.

amānitvam adambhitvam ahimsā kṣāntir ārjavam I ācāryopāsanaṁ śaucaṁ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ II 13.8

indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahaṁkāra eva ca I janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi- duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam II 13.9

asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu I nityaṁ ca sama-cittatvam iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu II 13.10

mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī I vivikta-deśa-sevitvam aratirjana saṁsadi II 13.11

adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvaṁ tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam I etaj-jñānam iti proktam ajñānaṁ yad atonyathā II 13.12

13.8,9,10,11,12 Humility, absence of pride, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, service to an enlightened spiritual Master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of ego, the perception of the pain of the cycle of birth and death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest and even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self realization, and philosophical search for the absolute truth: All these I thus declare to be knowledge and anything contrary to these is ignorance.

jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute I anādi matparaṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad ucyate II 13.13

13.13 I shall fully give you the understanding about the knowable with which one can taste eternal bliss or the being or the consciousness that has no beginning. A life beyond the law of cause and effect and the material world.

sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṁ tat sarvato 'kṣiśiromukham I sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati II 13.14

13.14 With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists in the worlds, enveloping all. The Paramātman (supreme spirit) is all pervading. He exists everywhere.

sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṁ sarvendriya-vivarjitam I asaktaṁ sarva-bhṛccaiva nirguṇaṁ guṇabhoktṛ ca II 13.15

13.15 The Paramātman is the original source of all the senses. Yet, He is beyond all the senses. He is unattached. Although the consciousness is the maintainer of all the living beings, yet He transcends the modes of the nature and at the same time He is the master of the modes of our material nature.

bahir antaśca bhūtānām acaraṁ carameva ca I sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ dūrasthaṁ cāntike ca tat II 13.16

13.16 The Supreme Truth exists both interally and externally, in the moving and the nonmoving. It is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know Him. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.

avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktamiva ca sthitam I bhūta-bhartṛ ca tajjñeyaṁ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca II 13.17

13.17 Although the Paramātman appears to be divided, He is the indivisible Whole. He is situated as one. Though He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to be understood that He consumes and creates all.

jyotiṣām api tajjyotis tamasaḥ paramucyate I jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ jñāna-gamyaṁ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam II 13.18

13.18 He is the source of light in all-luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is formless. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone's heart.

iti kṣetraṁ tathā jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ co 'ktaṁ samāsataḥ I madbhakta etadvijñāya madbhāvāyopapadyate II 13.19

13.19 Thus the field of activities, knowledge and the knowable has been summarily described by Me. It is only when we can understand the true nature of our Supreme Self and the material world with which we have created false identities that we can go beyond this and attain the Supreme Self itself.

prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhyanādī ubhāvapi I vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva viddhi prakṛti saṁbhavān II 13.20

13.20 Prakṛti or the field and its attributes and the Puruṣa or the knower or the Supreme Consciousness are both without beginning. All the transformations of nature that we see are produced by the field or prakṛti.

kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtirucyate I puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve heturucyate II 13.21

13.21 In the production of the body and the senses, prakṛti is said to be the cause; In the experience of pleasure and pain, Puruṣa is said to be the cause.

puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān-guṇān I kāraṇaṁ guṇasaṇgosya sadasadyonijanmasu II 13.22

13.22 The living entity in the material nature follows the way of life, enjoying the moods of nature. Due to association with the material nature it meets the good or evil among various species.

upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ I paramātmeti cāpyukto dehe'sminpuruṣaḥ paraḥ II 13.23

13.23 Yet, in this body there is a transcendental energy. He who is divine, who exists as a owner or the witness, supporter, enjoyer and the pure witnessing consciousness, is known as the Paramātman.

ya evaṁ vetti puruṣaṁ prakṛtiṁ ca guṇaiḥ saha I sarvathā vartamānopi na sa bhūyobhijāyate II 13.24

13.24 One who understands this philosophy concerning material nature, the living entity and the interaction of the modes of nature is sure to attain liberation. He will not take birth here again, regardless of his present position.