Chapter 13क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञविभागयोगःKshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga
About this chapter
(Introductory, unnumbered.) Arjuna: I wish to know prakriti and purusha, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and what is to be known.
The field and the knower of the field (13.1–13.6). The body is the field (kshetra), the one who knows it is the knower of the field (kshetrajna) (13.1); in all fields, I am the knower of the field; this is knowledge (13.2); the list (13.3); the sages, the Vedas, the words of the Brahma Sutras (13.4); the 24 elements and the modifications such as desire, aversion, pleasure and pain (13.5–13.6).
The marks of knowledge (13.7–13.11). Humility, unpretentiousness, non-violence, forbearance, uprightness, service of the teacher, purity, steadiness, self-restraint, dispassion, freedom from ego, reflecting on the flaw of suffering, non-attachment, even-mindedness, undivided devotion, solitude, knowledge of the Self, insight into the truth — this is knowledge; the opposite is ignorance.
What is to be known (13.12–13.18). The beginningless supreme Brahman, neither being nor non-being (13.12); hands, feet and eyes on every side (13.13); devoid of the senses, yet the enjoyer of the gunas (13.14); outside and inside, far and near (13.15); undivided, yet as if divided (13.16); the light of all lights, dwelling in the heart (13.17); the devotee who knows this attains My state (13.18).
Prakriti and purusha (13.19–13.26). Both are beginningless (13.19); actions belong to prakriti, experience to purusha (13.20); birth comes from attachment to the gunas (13.21); the supreme Person in the body (13.22); the one who knows is free from rebirth (13.23); meditation, Sankhya, action, hearing — many paths (13.24–13.25); every living being is a union of the field and the knower of the field (13.26).
Equal vision and non-attachment (13.27–13.34). The one who sees the Supreme Lord equally in all truly sees (13.27); such a person does no violence (13.28); prakriti acts, the Self is not the doer (13.29); diversity rests in the One, and unfolds from the One (13.30); the beginningless, attributeless Self is untouched — like space and like the sun (13.31–13.33); those who know this distinction with the eye of knowledge reach the Supreme (13.34).
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.
34 shlokas
- 13.1इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयतेThe Blessed Lord said: "O Kaunteya, this body is called the 'field' (kshetra); and the one who knows it is called the…
- 13.2क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारतO Bharata, know Me also as the knower of the field in all fields. The knowledge of the field and the knower of the…
- 13.3तत् क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक् च यद् विकारि यतश्च यत्What that field is, what it is like, what modifications it has, what arises from what; and who he (the knower of the…
- 13.4ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधैः पृथक्The sages have sung of it in many ways, separately in various chandas (the Vedas), and also in the reasoned and…
- 13.5महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव चThe five great elements, ego (ahankara), intellect (buddhi) and the unmanifest (primal prakriti); the ten senses and…
- 13.6इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतना धृतिः— desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (the assembled body), consciousness and fortitude — this, together…
- 13.7अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम्Not praising oneself, not making a show, non-violence, forbearance, straightforwardness, service of the teacher…
- 13.8इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च— dispassion towards the objects of the senses, absence of ego, and repeated reflection on the flaw in birth, death…
- 13.9असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु— absence of attachment; not entangling (oneself) with son, wife, home and the like; and constant even-mindedness on…
- 13.10मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी— unswerving (non-wandering) devotion to Me through undivided yoga; living in a secluded place, and having no taste for…
- 13.11अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम्— constant dedication to knowledge of the Self, and keeping in view the purpose of the knowledge of truth (liberation)…
- 13.12ज्ञेयं यत् तत् प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुतेThat which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality — I shall tell you of it: it is the beginningless…
- 13.13सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत् सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम्Its hands and feet are on every side, its eyes, heads and faces on every side, its ears on every side — it abides in…
- 13.14सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम्It shines through the functions of all the senses, yet is devoid of all the senses; it is unattached, yet supports all…
- 13.15बहिरन्तश्च भूतानामचरं चरमेव चIt is outside beings and inside them too; it is unmoving and also moving; being subtle, it cannot be known; it is far…
- 13.16अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम्It is undivided, yet abides as if divided among beings; it is to be known as the sustainer, the destroyer and the…
- 13.17ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमसः परमुच्यतेIt is the light even of lights, and is said to be beyond darkness; it is knowledge, the knowable, and that which is…
- 13.18इति क्षेत्रं तथा ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं चोक्तं समासतःThus the field, knowledge and the knowable have been described in brief. My devotee, knowing this, attains My state.
- 13.19प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपिKnow that prakriti and purusha are both beginningless; and know that the modifications and the gunas arise from…
- 13.20कार्यकरणकर्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिरुच्यतेIn the agency of the effect (the body) and the instruments (the senses), prakriti is said to be the cause; in the…
- 13.21पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान् गुणान्It is purusha, abiding in prakriti, that experiences the gunas born of prakriti; attachment to the gunas is the cause…
- 13.22उपद्रष्टाऽनुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरःThe supreme Person in this body is called the witness (upadrashta), the one who consents (anumanta), the sustainer, the…
- 13.23य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैः सहOne who knows purusha thus, and prakriti together with the gunas — however that person may be living, they are not born…
- 13.24ध्यानेनाऽऽत्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिदात्मानमात्मनाSome see the Self within themselves, through the mind, by meditation; others by the yoga of Sankhya (knowledge), and…
- 13.25अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्तः श्रुत्वाऽन्येभ्य उपासतेBut others, not knowing in this way, worship by hearing from others; they too, devoted to hearing, certainly cross…
- 13.26यावत् सञ्जायते किञ्चित् सत्त्वं स्थावरजङ्गमम्O best of the Bharatas, whatever being is born, unmoving or moving, know it to be born from the union of the field and…
- 13.27समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्One who sees the Supreme Lord abiding equally in all beings, the imperishable among the perishing — that person truly…
- 13.28समं पश्यन् हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम्Because they see the Lord abiding equally everywhere, they do not harm the self by the self (do no violence) — and they…
- 13.29प्रकृत्यैव च कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि सर्वशःOne who sees that all actions are done in every way by prakriti alone, and sees the Self as not the doer — that person…
- 13.30यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यतिWhen one sees the separate existence of beings as resting in the One, and their whole expansion as coming from that…
- 13.31अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात् परमात्माऽयमव्ययःO Kaunteya, being beginningless and beyond the gunas, this imperishable Supreme Self, though dwelling in the body…
- 13.32यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यतेJust as all-pervading space, because of its subtlety, is not tainted, so the Self, present everywhere in the body, is…
- 13.33यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविःO Bharata, just as the one sun illumines this whole world, so the lord of the field (kshetri) illumines the whole field.
- 13.34क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोरेवम् अन्तरं ज्ञानचक्षुषाThose who know in this way, with the eye of knowledge, the difference between the field and the knower of the field…