Chapter 13 - 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 

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

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 

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

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 

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.