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Bhagavad Geeta · Krishna

Chapter 13

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञविभागयोग

Yoga through Distinguishing the Field and the Knower of the Field

Verses

  1. Verse 1

    arjuna uvāca prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva kṣetraṃ kṣetrajñam eva ca| etad veditum icchāmi jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ ca keśava||13.1||

    Meaning

    Arjuna asked, "My Lord, who is God, what is Nature, what is Matter, and what is the Self? What is Wisdom, and what is worth knowing? I wish to have this explained."

  2. Verse 2

    śrī bhagavān uvāca idaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate| etad yo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ||13.2||

    Meaning

    Lord Shri Krishna replied: O Arjuna! The body of a person is the playground of the Self; and That which knows the activities of Matter, sages call the Self.

  3. Verse 3

    kṣetrajñaṃ cāpi māṃ viddhi sarvakṣetreṣu bhārata| kṣetrakṣetrajñayor jñānaṃ yat taj jñānaṃ mataṃ mama||13.3||

    Meaning

    I am the omniscient Self that abides in the realm of matter; knowledge of matter and of the all-knowing Self is wisdom.

  4. Verse 4

    tat kṣetraṃ yac ca yādṛk ca yadvikāri yataś ca yat| sa ca yo yatprabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me śṛṇu||13.4||

    Meaning

    What is called Matter, of what it is composed, whence it came, and why it changes, what the Self is, and what its power - this I will now briefly set forth.

  5. Verse 5

    ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaṃ chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak| brahmasūtrapadaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ||13.5||

    Meaning

    Seers have sung of it in various ways, in many hymns and sacred Vedic songs, weighty in thought and convincing in their arguments.

  6. Verse 6

    mahābhūtāny ahaṅkāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca| indriyāṇi daśaikaṃ ca pañca cendriyagocarāḥ||13.6||

    Meaning

    The five great fundamentals—earth, fire, air, water, and ether—personality, intellect, the mysterious life force, the ten organs of perception and action, the mind, and the five domains of sensation—

  7. Verse 7

    icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ saṅghātaś cetanā dhṛtiḥ| etat kṣetraṃ samāsena savikāram udāhṛtam||13.7||

    Meaning

    Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, sympathy, vitality, and the persistent clinging to life—these are, in brief, the constituents of changing matter.

  8. Verse 8

    amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṃsā kṣāntir ārjavam| ācāryopāsanaṃ śaucaṃ sthairyam ātmavinigrahaḥ||13.8||

    Meaning

    Humility, sincerity, harmlessness, forgiveness, rectitude, service to the Master, purity, steadfastness, and self-control;

  9. Verse 9

    indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahaṅkāra eva ca| janmamṛtyujarāvyādhiduḥkhadoṣānudarśanam||13.9||

    Meaning

    Renouncing the delights of the senses, being without pride, having a right understanding of the painful problem of birth and death, and of age and sickness;

  10. Verse 10

    asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu| nityaṃ ca samacittatvam iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu||13.10||

    Meaning

    Indifference, non-attachment to sex, progeny, or home, equanimity in both good fortune and bad;

  11. Verse 11

    mayi cānanyayogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī| viviktadeśasevitvam aratir janasaṃsadi||13.11||

    Meaning

    Unswerving devotion to Me, with concentration on Me and Me alone, a love for solitude, and indifference to social life;

  12. Verse 12

    adhyātmajñānanityatvaṃ tattvajñānārthadarśanam| etaj jñānam iti proktam ajñānaṃ yad ato nyathā||13.12||

    Meaning

    Constant yearning for the knowledge of the Self, and pondering over the lessons of the great Truth—this is wisdom; all else is ignorance.

  13. Verse 13

    jñeyaṃ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvā'mṛtam aśnute| anādi matparaṃ brahma na sat tan nāsad ucyate||13.13||

    Meaning

    I will now speak to you of that great truth which one ought to know, since by it one will attain immortal bliss—that which is without beginning, the eternal spirit which dwells in me, neither with form nor without it.

  14. Verse 14

    sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tat sarvato 'kṣiśiromukham| sarvataḥ śrutimal loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati||13.14||

    Meaning

    Everywhere are Its hands and feet; everywhere It has eyes that see, heads that think, and mouths that speak; everywhere It listens; It dwells in all the worlds and envelops them all.

  15. Verse 15

    sarvendriyaguṇābhāsaṃ sarvendriyavivarjitam| asaktaṃ sarvabhṛc caiva nirguṇaṃ guṇabhoktṛ ca||13.15||

    Meaning

    Beyond the senses, it yet shines through every sense perception; bound to nothing, it yet sustains everything; unaffected by the qualities, it still enjoys them all.

  16. Verse 16

    bahir antaś ca bhūtānām acaraṃ caram eva ca| sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṃ dūrasthaṃ cāntike ca tat||13.16||

    Meaning

    It is within all beings, yet outside; motionless yet moving; too subtle to be perceived; far away yet ever near.

  17. Verse 17

    avibhaktaṃ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktam iva ca sthitam| bhūtabhartṛ ca taj jñeyaṃ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca||13.17||

    Meaning

    In all beings, undivided yet living in division, it is the upholder of all, both creator and destroyer alike.

  18. Verse 18

    jyotiṣām api taj jyotis tamasaḥ param ucyate| jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ jñānagamyaṃ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam||13.18||

    Meaning

    It is the light of lights, beyond the reach of darkness; the wisdom, the only thing worth knowing or that wisdom can teach; the presence in the hearts of all.

  19. Verse 19

    iti kṣetraṃ tathā jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ coktaṃ samāsataḥ| madbhakta etad vijñāya madbhāvāyopapadyate||13.19||

    Meaning

    Thus, I have briefly told you what Matter is, the Self worth realizing, and what Wisdom is. He who is devoted to Me knows, and he will assuredly enter into Me.

  20. Verse 20

    prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva viddhy anādī ubhāv api| vikārāṃś ca guṇāṃś caiva viddhi prakṛtisaṃbhavān||13.20||

    Meaning

    Know further that Nature and God have no beginning, and that differences in character and quality originate from Nature only.

  21. Verse 21

    kāryakāraṇakartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate| puruṣaḥ sukhaduḥkhānāṃ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate||13.21||

    Meaning

    Nature is the law that generates cause and effect; God is the experiencer of all pleasure and pain.

  22. Verse 22

    puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijān guṇān| kāraṇaṃ guṇasaṅgo 'sya sadasadyonijanmasu||13.22||

    Meaning

    God, dwelling in the heart of Nature, experiences the qualities that Nature brings forth; and His affinity towards these qualities is the reason for His living in a good or evil body.

  23. Verse 23

    upadraṣṭā'numantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ| paramātmeti cāpy ukto dehe 'smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ||13.23||

    Meaning

    Thus, in the body of man dwells the Supreme God; He who sees, permits, upholds, and enjoys is the Highest God and the Highest Self.

  24. Verse 24

    ya evaṃ vetti puruṣaṃ prakṛtiṃ ca guṇaiḥ saha| sarvathā vartamāno 'pi na sa bhūyo 'bhijāyate||13.24||

    Meaning

    He who understands God and Nature, along with her qualities, whatever his condition in life may be, will not come back to earth.

  25. Verse 25

    dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecid ātmānam ātmanā| anye sāṃkhyena yogena karmayogena cāpare||13.25||

    Meaning

    Some realize the Supreme by meditating, with its aid, on the Self within; others by pure reason; and still others by right action.

  26. Verse 26

    anye tv evam ajānantaḥ śrutvā'nyebhya upāsate| te 'pi cātitaranty eva mṛtyuṃ śrutiparāyaṇāḥ||13.26||

    Meaning

    Others, again, having no direct knowledge but only hearing from others, still worship, and, if they are true to the teachings, they too will cross the sea of death.

  27. Verse 27

    yāvat sañjāyate kiñcit sattvaṃ sthāvarajaṅgamam| kṣetrakṣetrajñasaṃyogāt tad viddhi bharatarṣabha||13.27||

    Meaning

    Wherever life is seen in things movable or immovable, it is the result of the combination of Matter and Spirit.

  28. Verse 28

    samaṃ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṃ parameśvaram| vinaśyatsv avinaśyantaṃ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati||13.28||

    Meaning

    He who can see the Supreme Lord in all beings, the Imperishable amidst the perishable, he is the one who truly sees.

  29. Verse 29

    samaṃ paśyan hi sarvatra samavasthitam īśvaram| na hinasty ātmanā''tmānaṃ tato yāti parāṃ gatim||13.29||

    Meaning

    Beholding the Lord equally in all things, his actions do not mar his spiritual life but lead him to the heights of bliss.

  30. Verse 30

    prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ| yaḥ paśyati tathā''tmānam akartāraṃ sa paśyati||13.30||

    Meaning

    He who understands that it is only the Law of Nature that brings action to fruition, and that the Self never acts, alone knows the Truth.

  31. Verse 31

    yadā bhūtapṛthagbhāvam ekastham anupaśyati| tata eva ca vistāraṃ brahma sampadyate tadā||13.31||

    Meaning

    He who sees the diverse forms of life all rooted in One and growing forth from Him, shall indeed find the Absolute.

  32. Verse 32

    anāditvān nirguṇatvāt paramātmāyam avyayaḥ| śarīrastho 'pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate||13.32||

    Meaning

    The Supreme Spirit, O Prince, is without beginning, has no qualities, and is imperishable. Though it is within the body, it does not act, nor is it affected by action.

  33. Verse 33

    yathā sarvagataṃ saukṣmyād ākāśaṃ nopalipyate| sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathā''tmā nopalipyate||13.33||

    Meaning

    As space, though present everywhere, remains unaffected due to its subtlety, so too the Self, though present in all forms, retains its purity unalloyed.

  34. Verse 34

    yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ kṛtsnaṃ lokam imaṃ raviḥ| kṣetraṃ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṃ prakāśayati bhārata||13.34||

    Meaning

    As the one Sun illuminates the entire earth, so the Spirit illuminates the whole of Matter.

  35. Verse 35

    kṣetrakṣetrajñayor evam antaraṃ jñānacakṣuṣā| bhūtaprakṛtimokṣaṃ ca ye vidur yānti te param||13.35||

    Meaning

    Those who, with the eyes of wisdom, thus see the difference between Matter and Spirit, and know how to liberate life from the Law of Nature, attain the Supreme.

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