CHAPTER 13: Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yogaḥ🔗

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 [jñānam] and of the end of knowledge [jñeyam].

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.

13.3 O Bhārata, know that I am the Knower in all bodies [kṣetrajñā], the Creator. In my opinion, knowledge means the understanding of this body or the field of creation as well as the Creator, one who knows this field.

Whatever you know is not you. If you know something, it is not you. For instance, you can read this book because it is separate and apart from you. Similarly, if you can know your body, then it is not you. If you can know your mind, then it is not you. If you can know your thoughts, then they are not you. Whatever you know is not you. You are separate from that or above that. That is why you are able to know it. Whether it is the body, thoughts or emotions, whatever you know is not you.

Our consciousness is God and there is no separate thing as God. The problem arises when we start carrying an inadequate cognition thinking that we are the body and the mind. A person who carries the right cognition and understands that he is consciousness liberates himself. He is enlightened. He becomes the Buddha. Consciousness is God.

The Equation is: God + body mind = man Man – body mind = God! 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.

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

13.6 ,7 The field of activities and its interactions are said to be: the five elements of nature, false 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.

Thousands of years of research done by millions of inner scientists, Ṛṣis, in millions of inner science laboratories have led to the same truth: The true nature of man is pure consciousness, kṣetrajña, and man is the knower or witness of the field, kṣetra, the body-mind.

Kṛṣṇa talks about the five great elements, the false ego, the intelligence or the mind that makes decisions and all ten senses. Please understand, He says, ‘ten senses, indriyāṇi daśakaṁ ca’. We think we have five senses. No. We have five karmendriya and five jñānendriya. Karmendriya are the senses or organs responsible for actions such as talking, walking etc and they are the mouth, hands and feet, organs of excretion and reproduction. Jñānendriya are our five senses that receive knowledge such as smell, taste, sight, touch, and

hearing and they are the nose, tongue, eyes, skin and ear. So, all the ten senses, plus attachment, aversion, joy, sorrow, the body, mutual attraction and the consciousness contribute to the field of activities.

13.8 – 13.12 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;

Non-attachment 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.

In these five verses, Kṛṣṇa gives a beautiful technique. Until this point He gave us an intellectual understanding. Now He gives the technique and technology to realize and experience what He says. I call these five verses the inner science technology to liberate our inner space! It is a precise technique to liberate oneself from the kṣetra.

Kṛṣṇa mentions a long list of things in these verses with many instructions. Let me be very clear that if we straightaway try to practice all the qualities He has given here, we will feel we are going mad! We cannot really practice these qualities. All we can do is help the consciousness to happen in us so that we start radiating these qualities. These qualities simply happen in us.

With books we learn through verbal language; with a Master we learn through his body language. He is a living example that proves the truth can become a reality for us in our life.

Listen. Three things happen when we meet an Enlightened Master:

First, we see in front of our own eyes that it is possible to live in eternal bliss or in bliss consciousness all 24 hours of the day. The assurance and inspiration to achieve that state is there. We understand the possibility.

Next we ask, ‘All right, it is possible for the Master. But is it possible for me?’ That assurance is also given when we reach the Master. The Master instills the confidence in us by showing us, ‘If I can achieve, why not you?’

It is like this: the seed is afraid to sprout and thinks, ‘I may die if I rupture and sprout.’ But the tree says, ‘No, you must break open. Only when you break open can I happen.’ A Master represents the tree in the analogy.

The Master has already become a tree. He gives confidence to the disciple. He says, ‘Don’t worry. I also struggled like you. Look at me, I have flowered. I have not died. I have become a tree. If you open, you will also become a tree.’ He sits with us and assures us that he will take care. He creates the energy and gives confidence to open and become a tree. He reminds us, ‘When I have achieved, why not you?’

Third, the Master creates the right space or technology for the tree to happen. He creates the right conditions, the right soil, water, etc. All that we need to do is trust the master and break open. That is why Masters create ashrams. An ashram is a space that allows the seed to open so that the tree can happen. The ashram is a space where the conditions are controlled, and in a secure and safe way we can enter into the consciousness.

Fourth, he ensures that we are established in that consciousness. These are the responsibilities of an Enlightened Master. That is why the vedic way of life insists that we reach a living Enlightened Master. This is what Kṛṣṇa calls ācāryopāsana. He gives the important guidelines for us to experiment with the technology.

13.13 I shall give you the full 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, effect and the material world.

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.

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 nature and at the same time He is the master of the modes of our material nature.

13.16 The Supreme Truth exists both internally and externally, in the moving and 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.

13.17 Although the Paramātman appears to be divided, He is 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.

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.

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.

13.20 Prakṛti or the field and its attributes and 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.

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.

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.

13.23 Yet, in this body there is a transcendental energy.

He who is divine, who exists as an owner or the witness, supporter, enjoyer and the pure witnessing consciousness, is known as the Paramātman.

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.

Kṛṣṇa says that we need to understand what kṣetra and kṣetrajña to realize the truth. Until then we blindly believe that the projection of our mind, the drama, is reality. We have created our own drama and are acting in it. By and by, we forget that we created the drama. We forget that we are not the roles or characters we enact onstage. We start judging and reacting to everything about it.

You go on believing that because you are seeing from the time of your birth, seeing is hardware of you like the eyes. You don't separate eyes and seeing, you don’t separate ears and hearing, you don’t separate tongue and tasting. You don't separate kṣetra and kṣetrajñya, the one watching the kṣetra. You think that if it is there, it is there, which is not the truth. Cognition is changeable. Cognition is transformable. With this clarity that the cognition is transformable, now decide and be liberated. Just an understanding that our cognition is changeable and transformable, that we are beyond material pursuits is enough to liberate us.

I tell you, just know your incompletions with this clarity that cognition is changeable, the incompletions of kṣetra will lose power over you. Incompletions will have power over you as long as you feel cognition is not changeable. With this understanding of kṣetrajña, start living and thinking. Regardless of your present

position, your very thinking will be completion. This is the science of spontaneous completion, instant completion.

Completion does not mean blindly accepting everything that happens in your life, in the kṣetra. It simply means not resisting life as it happens to us. The root of all our incompletions is the idea we carry— Life should not be this way.

That is why we spend our whole life asking, 'Why, why, why? Why is life so bad? Why did this happen to me? Why do bad things happen to good people?'

Spontaneous completion or instant completion means simply dropping the wrong understanding that is creating conflict for you in a particular situation.

Each time you face a crisis or conflict in life, don't ask, 'Why is life this way? Instead, decide: this is life, so now what? Do I want to accept it and move on? Do I want to reject it and move on? Or do I change it the way I want?

Whatever decision you make out of this cognition will be right for you. When you act out of completion, you are empowered to resolve any conflict that happens inside you or outside you.

Kṛṣṇa gives a wonderful technique. He gives the ultimate technique, the technique of surrendering. He says, 'Surrender the outcome of your actions to Me.' This is the most effective technique. He talks about it throughout the Gītā.

Just surrender the fruits of your actions to Him, the Universal Consciousness. Most often, we take responsibility for the outcome of our actions. That is when our tensions and problems start. Just surrender everything to the Cosmic energy of Kṛṣṇa. Once we do, we will feel liberated. We will feel free. This is the easiest path to reach the truth.

The whole Universe is seen as kṣetra and kṣetrajña, māyā and ātman, prakṛti and puruṣa, matter and energy, body-mind and consciousness. Existence as we see it cannot be with only one of them. If we believe that what we see is simply matter, we are in illusion or māyā.

Kṣetra is the body that we associate ourselves with and kṣetrajña is the consciousness. What we see as a human body is a combination of both. If there is no consciousness, the body is useless. The matter that we call a body comes to life because of consciousness. Both must be there.

Prakṛti is the manifest and puruṣa is the unmanifest. Kṣetra is like prakṛti. It is the manifested, that which we can see. Along with what you see, there is something behind its existence. It is puruṣa or the unmanifest, the energy behind the matter, which we do not normally see.

in all living and non-living things, one reaches the transcendental destination.

13.30 One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature,

Sees that the Self does nothing, he actually sees.

13.31 When a person can see the Supreme Self in all living entities, then he will cease to see the separateness among the living entities. He will see that the whole Universe (Brahman) is an expansion and expression of the same truth.

The mind is the only obstacle on the path to reach the ultimate goal. In the previous verse, Kṛṣṇa tells us how we can see the truth. Here Kṛṣṇa talks about the hurdle that we must cross. He says that when we are not degraded or influenced by the mind, we can see the supreme spirit in everything. Only when we can do that, can we reach the final destination.

Here Kṛṣṇa says, whatever we think we are enjoying, actually it is the body that is enjoying—prakṛtaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ.

Our body enjoys all the material comforts. Our soul can live without them. Our soul is pure consciousness. It does not need anything external to keep it happy.

Kṛṣṇa gives us a technique here. He says, when we watch our body enjoying the sense pleasures, when we watch only our body being associated with the external material comforts and not our soul, we see the truth. Just witness the body. Be aware of your body. Observe the body when it reacts to external things. You will notice a sense of separation from the body. You will see what your body is. You will see that your soul has nothing to do with the pleasures you are enjoying.

When you do this, you witness your body and mind as if you are an outsider. It is like watching a movie. When you watch a movie, you watch what happens on the screen. In the same way, when you watch your body and mind, you understand what Kṛṣṇa says. Only when you witness that the body experiences material pleasures and it is the body that does everything and the soul does not need anything, you see the truth.

Kṛṣṇa gives the great truth of advaita in this verse. He talks about collective consciousness. He says when we see the Supreme Soul in all living beings, we no longer see the separateness. We see everything as one single entity. We see the whole Universe as one single body, as one entity expressing the same truth of oneness.

When we see that the Supreme Soul resides in each of us, we see that all of us are connected to each other. When we see this, we see the truth of living Advaita. We see that the whole Universe is the expansion of the same consciousness—tata eva ca vistāraṁ brahma sampadyate tadā (13.31). The whole Universe is the expression of the same truth.

13.32 Those with the vision of eternity can see that the soul is transcendental, eternal, and beyond the modes of nature.

Despite contact with the material body, O Arjuna, the soul neither does anything nor is attached.

13.33 The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all pervading. Similarly, the soul, situated in Brahman, does not mix with the body, though situated in that body.

13.34 O son of Bhārata, as the sun alone illuminates the entire Universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire consciousness.

13.35 Those, who see with the eyes of knowledge, the difference between the body-mind, kṣetra and the Knower of the body-mind, kṣetrajña, can understand the process of liberation from the bondages of material nature and attain Paramātman

.Kṛṣṇa uses the word nirguṇa meaning beyond the three attributes— nirguṇatvāt. The three attributes of satva (calmness), rajas passion and tamas (inactivity) are related to the mind and body. The soul is free from these attributes.

Kṛṣṇa gives an example to make this point clear. He says the space that is everywhere is unaffected by anything that is in that space. The subtle energy, space or ether, is present everywhere. Every molecule and

atom has this subtle energy. Though it is present in everything that we see, it does not inherit the properties of what it resides in. Even if it is in a flower, it does not take up the scent of the flower.

In the same way, the soul is not affected by where it resides. People think that their soul will go to hell if they have committed sins. They think if they have lived a pious life, their soul will go to heaven. They think that the soul is affected by the deeds of the body. Our sins do not affect the nature of our soul. Please understand that by infusing awareness into what we do, we realize that the body does whatever we do. The soul is completely free from it. The soul is not affected by it.

Kṣetri is the Self. This Self illumines all the kṣetra, all the bodies. Not just our body or kṣetra is illumined but all the kṣetra are illumined. The consciousness present in each of us is the hologram of the supreme Self. So there is no separation between the consciousness present in our body and the consciousness present in a plant or a rock. Everything is the same energy.

Witness the mind like a friend with integrity. Let whatever is inside come out with friendliness. There's nothing wrong. Neither support nor suppress. If we support, we will go after the garbage. If we suppress, we will end up analyzing the garbage and pushing it aside. Neither approach is going to work. Just witness and be complete.

When we do completion, creation simply happens. Enriching will just be our lifestyle. When we are in the space of completion, we will simply create and enrich everyone. All great things are achieved from the consciousness and intuition that is beyond the body-mind. They are products of the witnessing consciousness.

Let us pray to the Parabrahman, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the ultimate Universal consciousness, to give us the inner space of completion or the pure witnessing consciousness; to give us the ultimate experience and establish us in eternal bliss, Nityānanda.

Thank you.

Thus ends the thirteenth chapter named Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yogaḥ, 'The Yoga of Discrimination of the kṣetra, the field and kṣetrajña, the knower of the field,' of the Bhagavad Gītā Upaniṣad, Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the scripture of yoga dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṃvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjun

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