Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13: Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yoga
Thirty-four verses. The body as the field and the one who knows it, the twenty qualities the Gita calls ‘knowledge’, the supreme Brahman that is to be known, and the discernment of prakriti and purusha are here.
Tap any verse card to open its page with the word-by-word meaning. Pages are ready for every verse of this chapter.
idaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetramityabhidhīyate|
etadyo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ || 1 ||Meaning of verse 13.1 →2kṣetrajñaṃ cāpi māṃ viddhi sarvakṣetreṣu bhārata|
kṣetrakṣetrajñayorjñānaṃ yattajjñānaṃ mataṃ mama || 2 ||Meaning of verse 13.2 →3tatkṣetraṃ yacca yādṛkca yadvikāri yataśca yat|
sa ca yo yatprabhāvaśca tatsamāsena me śṛṇu || 3 ||Meaning of verse 13.3 →4ṛṣibhirbahudhā gītaṃ chandobhirvividhaiḥ pṛthak|
brahmasūtrapadaiścaiva hetumadbhirviniścitaiḥ || 4 ||Meaning of verse 13.4 →5mahābhūtānyahaṅkāro buddhiravyaktameva ca|
indriyāṇi daśaikaṃ ca pañca cendriyagocarāḥ || 5 ||Meaning of verse 13.5 →6icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ saṅghātaścetanā dhṛtiḥ|
etatkṣetraṃ samāsena savikāramudāhṛtam || 6 ||Meaning of verse 13.6 →7amānitvamadambhitvamahiṃsā kṣāntirārjavam|
ācāryopāsanaṃ śaucaṃ sthairyamātmavinigrahaḥ || 7 ||Meaning of verse 13.7 →8indriyārtheṣu vairāgyamanahaṅkāra eva ca|
janmamṛtyujarāvyādhiduḥkhadoṣānudarśanam || 8 ||Meaning of verse 13.8 →9asaktiranabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu|
nityaṃ ca samacittatvamiṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu || 9 ||Meaning of verse 13.9 →10mayi cānanyayogena bhaktiravyabhicāriṇī|
viviktadeśasevitvamaratirjanasaṃsadi || 10 ||Meaning of verse 13.10 →11adhyātmajñānanityatvaṃ tattvajñānārthadarśanam|
etajjñānamiti proktamajñānaṃ yadato’nyathā || 11 ||Meaning of verse 13.11 →12jñeyaṃ yattatpravakṣyāmi yajjñātvāmṛtamaśnute|
anādimatparaṃ brahma na sattannāsaducyate || 12 ||Meaning of verse 13.12 →13sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tatsarvato’kṣiśiromukham|
sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati || 13 ||Meaning of verse 13.13 →14sarvendriyaguṇābhāsaṃ sarvendriyavivarjitam|
asaktaṃ sarvabhṛccaiva nirguṇaṃ guṇabhoktṛ ca || 14 ||Meaning of verse 13.14 →15bahirantaśca bhūtānāmacaraṃ carameva ca|
sūkṣmatvāttadavijñeyaṃ dūrasthaṃ cāntike ca tat || 15 ||Meaning of verse 13.15 →16avibhaktaṃ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktamiva ca sthitam|
bhūtabhartṛ ca tajjñeyaṃ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca || 16 ||Meaning of verse 13.16 →17jyotiṣāmapi tajjyotistamasaḥ paramucyate|
jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ jñānagamyaṃ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam || 17 ||Meaning of verse 13.17 →18iti kṣetraṃ tathā jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ coktaṃ samāsataḥ|
madbhakta etadvijñāya madbhāvāyopapadyate || 18 ||Meaning of verse 13.18 →19prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva viddhyanādī ubhāvapi|
vikārāṃśca guṇāṃścaiva viddhi prakṛtisambhavān || 19 ||Meaning of verse 13.19 →20kāryakaraṇakartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtirucyate|
puruṣaḥ sukhaduḥkhānāṃ bhoktṛtve heturucyate || 20 ||Meaning of verse 13.20 →21puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijānguṇān|
kāraṇaṃ guṇasaṅgo’sya sadasadyonijanmasu || 21 ||Meaning of verse 13.21 →22upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ|
paramātmeti cāpyukto dehe’sminpuruṣaḥ paraḥ || 22 ||Meaning of verse 13.22 →23ya evaṃ vetti puruṣaṃ prakṛtiṃ ca guṇaiḥ saha|
sarvathā vartamāno’pi na sa bhūyo’bhijāyate || 23 ||Meaning of verse 13.23 →24dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecidātmānamātmanā|
anye sāṅkhyena yogena karmayogena cāpare || 24 ||Meaning of verse 13.24 →25anye tvevamajānantaḥ śrutvānyebhya upāsate|
te’pi cātitarantyeva mṛtyuṃ śrutiparāyaṇāḥ || 25 ||Meaning of verse 13.25 →26yāvatsañjāyate kiñcitsattvaṃ sthāvarajaṅgamam|
kṣetrakṣetrajñasaṃyogāttadviddhi bharatarṣabha || 26 ||Meaning of verse 13.26 →27samaṃ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṃ parameśvaram|
vinaśyatsvavinaśyantaṃ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati || 27 ||Meaning of verse 13.27 →28samaṃ paśyanhi sarvatra samavasthitamīśvaram|
na hinastyātmanātmānaṃ tato yāti parāṃ gatim || 28 ||Meaning of verse 13.28 →29prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ|
yaḥ paśyati tathātmānamakartāraṃ sa paśyati || 29 ||Meaning of verse 13.29 →30yadā bhūtapṛthagbhāvamekasthamanupaśyati|
tata eva ca vistāraṃ brahma sampadyate tadā || 30 ||Meaning of verse 13.30 →31anāditvānnirguṇatvātparamātmāyamavyayaḥ|
śarīrastho’pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate || 31 ||Meaning of verse 13.31 →32yathā sarvagataṃ saukṣmyādākāśaṃ nopalipyate|
sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate || 32 ||Meaning of verse 13.32 →33yathā prakāśayatyekaḥ kṛtsnaṃ lokamimaṃ raviḥ|
kṣetraṃ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṃ prakāśayati bhārata || 33 ||Meaning of verse 13.33 →34kṣetrakṣetrajñayorevamantaraṃ jñānacakṣuṣā|
bhūtaprakṛtimokṣaṃ ca ye viduryānti te param || 34 ||Meaning of verse 13.34 →
oṃ tatsaditi śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṃ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṃvāde kṣetrakṣetrajñavibhāgayogo nāma trayodaśo’dhyāyaḥ ||
About Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yoga
The last six chapters of the Gita begin with this one. In the previous chapter Krishna had said, ‘I lift my devotees out of the ocean of worldly existence.’ Here he gives the understanding that release requires: this body is the field, the one who knows it is the knower of the field, and to know the difference between the two is knowledge.
The best-known part of the chapter is the list of twenty qualities beginning with humility. The Gita calls humility, non-violence, patience, uprightness and service of the teacher ‘knowledge’, and what is contrary to them ‘ignorance’. Some editions open the chapter with a verse containing Arjuna’s question, ‘prakritim purusham chaiva’. It is not part of the Gita of seven hundred verses, and so on these pages the chapter has thirty-four verses.
How the chapter moves
- Verses 1 and 2: This body is the field, the one who knows it is the knower of the field. I am the knower in all fields.
- Verses 3 and 4: The outline of the teaching to come, told by the sages, the Vedas and the Brahma Sutras.
- Verses 5 and 6: The list of the field. The twenty-four principles, and desire, aversion, pleasure and pain.
- Verses 7 to 11: The twenty qualities of knowledge, from humility to keeping the goal of truth in view.
- Verses 12 to 18: The supreme Brahman to be known. Hands and feet everywhere, without senses, the light of lights, seated in every heart.
- Verses 19 to 23: Prakriti and purusha. Agency belongs to prakriti, experience to purusha, the witness in the body.
- Verses 24 and 25: Meditation, knowledge, action and faithful hearing as ways of seeing the Self.
- Verses 26 to 34: One who sees the supreme Lord equal in all truly sees. The images of space and the sun, and the eye of knowledge.
Who is the knower of the field: three views
The acharyas read ‘kshetrajnam chapi mam viddhi’ (13.2) differently. For Shankara the knower of the field in all bodies is in truth the supreme Lord, free of worldly existence, and samsara comes from ignorance. Sridhara Swami, recalling ‘tat tvam asi’, reads it the same way. For Ramanuja both the field and its knower are the Lord’s body and he is their inner Self, so he can speak of them as ‘I’. Madhva keeps the jiva and the Lord distinct and holds that descriptions such as ‘upadrashta’ (13.22) are of the Lord. Many verses of the chapter Ramanuja reads as describing the pure individual self, where Shankara reads them as describing the supreme Brahman.
These pages do not decide between the readings. Wherever the acharyas part, each position is recorded in its own terms.
About these pages
The text is that of the Gita Press edition. Where there are variant readings, such as ‘karyakarana’ (13.20) and ‘chetana dhritih’ (13.6), the other reading is recorded on that page. On the page for 13.23 we have also noted that ‘sarvatha vartamano ’pi’ is not to be read as a licence for wrongdoing.
In this chapter the ‘For life today’ box links the difference between body and awareness to daily life: care of the body, preparing for old age and illness, the exhaustion of carers, loneliness, and the stigma around illness. The health notes are for general understanding only, and for personal problems a doctor’s advice is what counts.
Sources: several.
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