BG 13: Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness
1-2
arjuna uvāca
prakṛtiḿ puruṣaḿ caiva
kṣetraḿ kṣetra-jñam eva ca
etad veditum icchāmi
jñānaḿ jñeyaḿ ca keśava
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
idaḿ śarīraḿ kaunteya
kṣetram ity abhidhīyate
etad yo vetti taḿ prāhuḥ
kṣetra-jña iti tad-vidaḥ
TRANSLATION
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.
3
kṣetra-jñaḿ cāpi māḿ viddhi
sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaḿ
yat taj jñānaḿ mataḿ mama
TRANSLATION
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.
4
tat kṣetraḿ yac ca yādṛk ca
yad-vikāri yataś ca yat
sa ca yo yat-prabhāvaś ca
tat samāsena me śṛṇu
TRANSLATION
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.
5
ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaḿ
chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak
brahma-sūtra-padaiś caiva
hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ
TRANSLATION
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.
6-7
mahā-bhūtāny ahańkāro buddhir avyaktam eva
ca indriyāṇi daśaikaḿ ca pañca
cendriya-gocarāḥ icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaḿ duḥkhaḿ
sańghātaś cetanā dhṛtiḥ etat kṣetraḿ
samāsena sa-vikāram udāhṛtam
TRANSLATION
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.
8-12
(8) amānitvam adambhitvam ahiḿsā kṣāntir
ārjavam ācāryopāsanaḿ śaucaḿ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ
(9) indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahańkāra eva
ca janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi- duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (10) asaktir
anabhiṣvańgaḥ putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu nityaḿ ca sama-cittatvam
iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu (11) mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir
avyabhicāriṇī vivikta-deśa-sevitvam aratir jana-saḿsadi (12)
adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvaḿ tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam etaj jñānam iti
proktam ajñānaḿ yad ato 'nyathā
TRANSLATION
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
jñeyaḿ yat tat pravakṣyāmi
yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute
anādi mat-paraḿ brahma
na sat tan nāsad ucyate
TRANSLATION
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.
14
sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaḿ tat
sarvato 'kṣi-śiro-mukham
sarvataḥ śrutimal loke
sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati
TRANSLATION
Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.
15
sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaḿ
sarvendriya-vivarjitam
asaktaḿ sarva-bhṛc caiva
nirguṇaḿ guṇa-bhoktṛ ca
TRANSLATION
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.
16
bahir antaś ca bhūtānām
acaraḿ caram eva ca
sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaḿ
dūra-sthaḿ cāntike ca tat
TRANSLATION
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.
17
avibhaktaḿ ca bhūteṣu
vibhaktam iva ca sthitam
bhūta-bhartṛ ca taj jñeyaḿ
grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca
TRANSLATION
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.
18
jyotiṣām api taj jyotis
tamasaḥ param ucyate
jñānaḿ jñeyaḿ jñāna-gamyaḿ
hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam
TRANSLATION
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.
19
iti kṣetraḿ tathā jñānaḿ
jñeyaḿ coktaḿ samāsataḥ
mad-bhakta etad vijñāya
mad-bhāvāyopapadyate
TRANSLATION
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.
20
prakṛtiḿ puruṣaḿ caiva
viddhy anādī ubhāv api
vikārāḿś ca guṇāḿś caiva
viddhi prakṛti-sambhavān
TRANSLATION
Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature.
21
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve
hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāḿ
bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate
TRANSLATION
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.
22
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi
bhuńkte prakṛti-jān guṇān
kāraṇaḿ guṇa-sańgo 'sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu
TRANSLATION
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.
23
upadraṣṭānumantā ca
bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ
paramātmeti cāpy ukto
dehe 'smin puruṣaḥ paraḥ
TRANSLATION
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.
24
ya evaḿ vetti puruṣaḿ
prakṛtiḿ ca guṇaiḥ saha
sarvathā vartamāno 'pi
na sa bhūyo 'bhijāyate
TRANSLATION
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.
25
dhyānenātmani paśyanti
kecid ātmānam ātmanā
anye sāńkhyena yogena
karma-yogena cāpare
TRANSLATION
Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through meditation, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still others through working without fruitive desires.
26
anye tv evam ajānantaḥ
śrutvānyebhya upāsate
te 'pi cātitaranty eva
mṛtyuḿ śruti-parāyaṇāḥ
TRANSLATION
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.
27
yāvat sañjāyate kiñcit
sattvaḿ sthāvara-jańgamam
kṣetra-kṣetrajña-saḿyogāt
tad viddhi bharatarṣabha
TRANSLATION
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.
28
samaḿ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
tiṣṭhantaḿ parameśvaram
vinaśyatsv avinaśyantaḿ
yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati
TRANSLATION
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.
29
samaḿ paśyan hi sarvatra
samavasthitam īśvaram
na hinasty ātmanātmānaḿ
tato yāti parāḿ gatim
TRANSLATION
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.
30
prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi
kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ
yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam
akartāraḿ sa paśyati
TRANSLATION
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.
31
yadā bhūta-pṛthag-bhāvam
eka-stham anupaśyati
tata eva ca vistāraḿ
brahma sampadyate tadā
TRANSLATION
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.
32
anāditvān nirguṇatvāt
paramātmāyam avyayaḥ
śarīra-stho 'pi kaunteya
na karoti na lipyate
TRANSLATION
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.
33
yathā sarva-gataḿ saukṣmyād
ākāśaḿ nopalipyate
sarvatrāvasthito dehe
tathātmā nopalipyate
TRANSLATION
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.
34
yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ
kṛtsnaḿ lokam imaḿ raviḥ
kṣetraḿ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaḿ
prakāśayati bhārata
TRANSLATION
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.
35
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor evam
antaraḿ jñāna-cakṣuṣā
bhūta-prakṛti-mokṣaḿ ca
ye vidur yānti te param
TRANSLATION
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.
