Chapter 13 of 18

Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness

13.1-13.2

arjuna uvāca prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva kṣetraṁ kṣetra-jñam eva ca etad veditum icchāmi jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ ca keśava

śrī-bhagavān uvāca idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate etad yo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ kṣetra-jña iti tad-vidaḥ

Arjuna said: O my dear Kṛṣṇa, I wish to know about prakṛti [nature], puruṣa [the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge. The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.

13.3
kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its knower is called knowledge. That is My opinion.
13.4
tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca yad-vikāri yataś ca yat sa ca yo yat-prabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me śṛṇu
Now please hear My brief description of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, whence it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are.
13.5
ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaṁ chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak brahma-sūtra-padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ mahā-bhūtāny ahaṅkāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca pañca cendriya-gocarāḥ icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṅghātaś cetanā dhṛtiḥ etat kṣetraṁ samāsena sa-vikāram udāhṛtam amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam ācāryopāsanaṁ śaucaṁ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahaṅkāra eva ca janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi- duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu nityaṁ ca sama-cittatvam iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī vivikta-deśa-sevitvam aratir jana-saṁsadi adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvaṁ tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam etaj jñānam iti proktam ajñānaṁ yad ato ’nyathā
That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is described by various sages in various Vedic writings. It is especially presented in Vedānta-sūtra with all reasoning as to cause and effect. 13.6-13.7 The five great elements, false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the ten senses and the mind, the five sense objects, desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions – all these are considered, in summary, to be the field of activities and its interactions. 13.8-13.12 Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.
13.13
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute anādi mat-paraṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad ucyate
I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.
13.14
sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat sarvato ’kṣi-śiro-mukham sarvataḥ śrutimal loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati
Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.
13.15
sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṁ sarvendriya-vivarjitam asaktaṁ sarva-bhṛc caiva nirguṇaṁ guṇa-bhoktṛ ca
The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, although He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time He is the master of all the modes of material nature.
13.16
bahir antaś ca bhūtānām acaraṁ caram eva ca sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ dūra-sthaṁ cāntike ca tat
The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the nonmoving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.
13.17
avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktam iva ca sthitam bhūta-bhartṛ ca taj jñeyaṁ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca
Although the Supersoul appears to be divided among all beings, He is never divided. He is situated as one. Although He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to be understood that He devours and develops all.
13.18
jyotiṣām api taj jyotis tamasaḥ param ucyate jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ jñāna-gamyaṁ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam
He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. 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
iti kṣetraṁ tathā jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ coktaṁ samāsataḥ mad-bhakta etad vijñāya mad-bhāvāyopapadyate
Thus the field of activities [the body], knowledge and the knowable have been summarily described by Me. Only My devotees can understand this thoroughly and thus attain to My nature.
13.20
prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhy anādī ubhāv api vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva viddhi prakṛti-sambhavān
Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature.
13.21
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate
Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.
13.22
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.
13.23
upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ paramātmeti cāpy ukto dehe ’smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ
Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.
13.24
ya evaṁ vetti puruṣaṁ prakṛtiṁ ca guṇaiḥ saha sarvathā vartamāno ’pi na sa bhūyo ’bhijāyate
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.
13.25
dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecid ātmānam ātmanā anye sāṅkhyena yogena karma-yogena cāpare
Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through meditation, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still others through working without fruitive desires.
13.26
anye tv evam ajānantaḥ śrutvānyebhya upāsate te ’pi cātitaranty eva mṛtyuṁ śruti-parāyaṇāḥ
Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.
13.27
yāvat sañjāyate kiñcit sattvaṁ sthāvara-jaṅgamam kṣetra-kṣetrajña-saṁyogāt tad viddhi bharatarṣabha
O chief of the Bhāratas, know that whatever you see in existence, both the moving and the nonmoving, is only a combination of the field of activities and the knower of the field.
13.28
samaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṁ parameśvaram vinaśyatsv avinaśyantaṁ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati
One who sees the Supersoul accompanying the individual soul in all bodies, and who understands that neither the soul nor the Supersoul within the destructible body is ever destroyed, actually sees.
13.29
samaṁ paśyan hi sarvatra samavasthitam īśvaram na hinasty ātmanātmānaṁ tato yāti parāṁ gatim
One who sees the Supersoul equally present everywhere, in every living being, does not degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the transcendental destination.
13.30
prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam akartāraṁ sa paśyati
One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature, and sees that the self does nothing, actually sees.
13.31
yadā bhūta-pṛthag-bhāvam eka-stham anupaśyati tata eva ca vistāraṁ brahma sampadyate tadā
When a sensible man ceases to see different identities due to different material bodies and he sees how beings are expanded everywhere, he attains to the Brahman conception.
13.32
anāditvān nirguṇatvāt paramātmāyam avyayaḥ śarīra-stho ’pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate
Those with the vision of eternity can see that the imperishable 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 entangled.
13.33
yathā sarva-gataṁ saukṣmyād ākāśaṁ nopalipyate sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate
The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all-pervading. Similarly, the soul situated in Brahman vision does not mix with the body, though situated in that body.
13.34
yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ kṛtsnaṁ lokam imaṁ raviḥ kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ prakāśayati bhārata
O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.
13.35
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor evam antaraṁ jñāna-cakṣuṣā bhūta-prakṛti-mokṣaṁ ca ye vidur yānti te param
Those who see with eyes of knowledge the difference between the body and the knower of the body, and can also understand the process of liberation from bondage in material nature, attain to the supreme goal.