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Chapter XIII35 verses

अथ त्रयोदशोऽध्यायः

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञविभागयोगः

The Yoga of the Distinction between the Field and the Knower of the Field

Kṣetra-kṣetrajña-vibhāga-yoga

Know the body and the mind with all their motions as a field, and know the one Lord who is the Knower in every field, seated equally in all, unperishing within the perishing. — The Delight of Krishna

The soul enters in
madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ — the lover dear to God, who must now know Soul and Nature
and is led towards
kṣetrajña — the Knower in all fields, the one Lord seen seated equally in every being
Begin at 13 · 1 Play chapter

Recitations

  1. Swami Sarvagananda ji0:00
  2. Ashit Desai0:00
In this chapter

35 verses

Summary of chapter 13

The Field and its Knower - The distinctions between Pumsha and Prakriti. Soul and Nature. rapidly drawn in this chapter in the terms of the Sankhya Philosophy, are the basis on which the Gita rests its whole idea of the liberated being made one in the conscious law of its existence with the Divine.

Chapter 13 illustration, titled क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञविभागयोगः
Illustration · Sushanto Nath, Sri Aurobindo Society

Chapter outline

Choose a range to read just those verses.

  1. 13·1–7The Field and the Knower of the Field.
  2. 13·8–12The essentials of Spiritual Knowledge.
  3. 13·13–19The Supreme Knowable.
  4. 13·20–35Purusha and Prakriti, the Vedantic Sankhya and spiritual value of Knowledge.
  5. 13·1–35Show all 35 verses

The verses

Showing verses 20–35 of 35 · Show all 35 verses

Śrī Bhagavān uvācaश्रीभगवानुवाच

  1. 13·20प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि । विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान्‌ ॥ २० ॥prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhyanādī ubhāvapi, vikārāṁśca guṇāṁścaiva viddhi prakṛtisaṁbhavān.Know thou that Purusha (the Soul) and Prakriti (Nature) are both without origin and eternal…
  2. 13·21कार्यकरणकर्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिरुच्यते । पुरुषः सुखदुःखानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते ॥ २१ ॥kāryakaraṇakartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtirucyate, puruṣaḥ sukhaduḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve heturucyate.The chain of cause and effect and the state of being the doer are created by Prakriti…
  3. 13·22पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्‌क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान् । कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु ॥ २२ ॥puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijānguṇān, kāraṇaṁ guṇasaṅgo’sya sadasadyonijanmasu.Purusha involved in Prakriti enjoys the qualities born of Prakriti…
  4. 13·23, a key verseउपद्रष्टानुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः । परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः ॥ २३ ॥upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ, paramātmeti cāpyukto dehe’sminpuruṣaḥ paraḥ.Witness, source of the consent, upholder of the work of Nature, her enjoyer, almighty Lord and supreme Self is…
  5. 13·24य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैः सह । सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते ॥ २४ ॥ya evaṁ vetti puruṣaṁ prakṛtiṁ ca guṇaiḥ saha, sarvathā vartamāno’pi na sa bhūyo’bhijāyate.He who thus knows Purusha and Prakriti with her qualities, howsoever he lives and acts, he shall not be born…
  6. 13·25ध्यानेनात्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिदात्मानमात्मना । अन्ये सांख्येन योगेन कर्मयोगेन चापरे ॥ २५ ॥dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecidātmānamātmanā, anye sāṅkhyena yogena karmayogena cāpare.This knowledge comes by an inner meditation through which the eternal Self becomes apparent to us in our…
  7. 13·26अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्तः श्रुत्वान्येभ्य उपासते । तेऽपि चातितरन्त्येव मृत्युं श्रुतिपरायणाः ॥ २६ ॥anye tvevamajānantaḥ śrutvānyebhya upāsate, te’pi cātitarantyeva mṛtyuṁ śrutiparāyaṇāḥ.Others, who are ignorant of these paths of Yoga, may hear of the truth from others and mould the mind into the…
  8. 13·27यावत्सञ्जायते किञ्चित्सत्त्वं स्थावरजङ्गमम्‌ । क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञसंयोगात्तद्विद्धि भरतर्षभ ॥ २७ ॥yāvatsañjāyate kiñcitsattvaṁ sthāvarajaṅgamam, kṣetrakṣetrajñasaṁyogāttadviddhi bharatarṣabha.Whatever being, moving or unmoving, is born, know thou, O best of the Bharatas, that it is from the union…
  9. 13·28, a key verseसमं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम् विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥ २८ ॥samaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṁ parameśvaram vinaśyatsvavinaśyantaṁ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati.Seated equally in all beings, the supreme Lord, unperishing within the perishing – he who thus sees, he sees.
  10. 13·29समं पश्यन्हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम् । न हिनस्त्यात्मनात्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥ २९ ॥samaṁ paśyanhi sarvatra samavasthitamīśvaram, na hinastyātmanātmānaṁ tato yāti parāṁ gatim.Perceiving the equal Lord as the spiritual inhabitant in all forces, in all things and in all beings, he does…
  11. 13·30, a key verseप्रकृत्यैव च कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि सर्वशः । यः पश्यति तथात्मानमकर्तारं स पश्यति ॥ ३० ॥prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ, yaḥ paśyati tathātmānamakartāraṁ sa paśyati.He who sees that all action is verily done by Prakriti, and that the Self is the inactive witness, he sees.
  12. 13·31यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यति । तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म संपद्यते तदा ॥ ३१ ॥yadā bhūtapṛthagbhāvamekasthamanupaśyati, tata eva ca vistāraṁ brahma saṁpadyate tadā.When he perceives the diversified existence of beings abiding in the one eternal Being, and spreading forth…
  13. 13·32अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः । शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते ॥ ३२ ॥anāditvānnirguṇatvātparamātmāyamavyayaḥ, śarīrastho’pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate.Because it is without origin and eternal, not limited by the qualities, the imperishable supreme Self, though…
  14. 13·33यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते । सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥ ३३ ॥yathā sarvagataṁ saukṣmyādākāśaṁ nopalipyate, sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate.As the all-pervading ether is not affected by reason of its subtlety, so seated everywhere in the body, the…
  15. 13·34यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविः । क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३४ ॥yathā prakāśayatyekaḥ kṛtsnaṁ lokamimaṁ raviḥ, kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ prakāśayati bhārata.As the one sun illumines the entire earth, so the Lord of the Field illumines the entire Field, O Bharata.
  16. 13·35क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोरेवमन्तरं ज्ञानचक्षुषा । भूतप्रकृतिमोक्षं च ये विदुर्यान्ति ते परम् ॥ ३५ ॥kṣetrakṣetrajñayorevamantaraṁ jñānacakṣuṣā, bhūtaprakṛtimokṣaṁ ca ye viduryānti te param.They who with the eye of knowledge perceive this difference between the Field and the Knower of the Field and…
Show all 35 verses

End of the chapter

ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सुब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादेक्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञविभागयोगो नाम त्रयोदशोऽध्यायः ॥ १३॥

om tatsaditi śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsubrahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvādekṣetrakṣetrajñavibhāgayogo nāma trayodaśo’dhyāyaḥ

Thus, in the Upanishad sung by the Lord, the science of Brahman, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the thirteenth chapter entitled “The Yoga of the Field and the Knower of the Field”

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