Bg 13.3
kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
Bg 13.4
tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca yad-vikāri yataś ca yat
sa ca yo yat-prabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me śṛṇu
Bg 13.5
ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaṁ chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak
brahma-sūtra-padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ
Translation
3. Know Me as the "Knower-of-the-Field" in all "Fields," O Bharata; Knowledge of the "Field" as also of the "knower-of-the-Field" is considered by Me to be My Knowledge.
4. What that Field is; of what nature it is; what are its modifications; whence it is; and also who He is; and what His powers are --- these hear from Me in brief.
5. RISHIS have sung (about the "Field" and the "Knower-of-the-Field" ) in many ways, in various distinctive chants and also in the suggestive words indicative of BRAHMAN, full of reason and decision.
Commentary
After indicating, in the previous stanza, the world-of-matter and the thrilling Spirit-of-Truth that presides over it, here is a staggering announcement, "I AM THE KNOWER-OF-THE-FIELD IN ALL FIELDS." If, in all "Fields" the "Knower" is one, then the plurality is only in the matter-envelopments, and the Life that presides over them is one everywhere. This Universal One, the Transcendental Truth is indicated here by the first person singular "I AM" because every seeker has to rediscover in himself, "That I am" (Soham).
We had already indicated earlier that Lord Krishna is expounding the Geeta in a rare moment of Yogic integration (Yogarudha state). He is identifying himself with the Self that is everywhere. This is something like electricity declaring: "I am the one energy that gives the glow in all filaments all over the world."
After indicating the One Spirit behind the entire world-of-matter, wherever it may be, Krishna declares that, according to Him, a correct knowledge (vitally experienced and lived) of what constitutes in each one of us the perishable, changeable, finite, inert matter, and of the nature of the Infinite, Imperishable and Sentient Spirit --- is the Supreme Knowledge. Kshetra is the field-of-matter which is constituted of the various equipments of perception and the vast fields of the perceived. Kshetrajna is the subject that enjoys the activities of the instruments of perception and the world perceived by them. To distinguish the world-of-the-subject from the world-of-the-objects is the salutary Knowledge, which can redeem us from the confusions and sorrows from which we suffer today as individualised egos.
SINCE A PRECISE KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD OF SUBJECT AND OF THE OBJECTS IS UNAVOIDABLE TO A TRUE SEEKER WALKING THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE, WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE AN EXHAUSTIVE STUDY OF THEM. THEREFORE:
OF WHAT NATURE --- Not only are we going to have a discussion of what constitutes the "Field", the Kshetra, but also of what it is in itself. "OF WHAT NATURE", meaning, what are its properties. "AND WHENCE IS WHAT" meaning, what effects arise from what causes i. e. what are the by-products when it changes its form? What is its origin? Who is He, the Knowing Principle in the field? What are His powers of perception, feeling and thought? All these "HEAR, BRIEFLY FROM ME."
A mere repetition of the qualities of the Infinite Self is, in itself, of no profit at all to a true seeker. Nor can any evolution actually take place by an over-emphasis of the qualities of the Spirit. To close our eyes to the causes that create our present problems is not to solve the problems. The world-of-matter that has been projected by ourselves around us and the process by which we work through it to perceive the infinite varieties of objects, feelings and thoughts --- all these are to be brought under our close observation and study. To ignore them is to cheat ourselves so much about the "essential knowledge."
At least a working knowledge of the enemy's strategy is essential in planning our anti-strategic movements. To know the nature of all matter envelopments --- their play, and how they behave under given sets of different circumstances --- is to know the "Field" where we have to battle for release and win our victory.
Thus physiology, biology, psychology and all the natural sciences have a real quota of help to give us. The spiritual "path," especially the 'Path-of-Knowledge,' is the culmination and the fulfilment of the secular sciences. This is very well brought out by the fact that, when Lord Krishna, even in the midst of the battle-front, is trying to explain the secrets of the Spirit to the warrior Arjuna, He does not fail to emphasise the importance of a close study of the "Field" provided by the world-of-matter.
IN ORDER TO CREATE A LIVELY ENTHUSIASM IN THE STUDENTS TO OBSERVE, STUDY AND UNDERSTAND THE WORLD-OF-MATTER AROUND THE SPIRIT, KRISHNA IS GLORIFYING THE VERY THEME OF THIS CHAPTER. LISTEN:
The explanations that are to follow are not idle talk, or clever intellectual manifestations, springing from the fertile imagination of Shri Krishna. In the entire discourse, (in Chapter XIII itself) Krishna assures us that what He explains is only a healthy restatement of what "HAS BEEN SUNG BY THE RISHIS IN MANY WAYS, IN DIFFERENT HYMNS, SEVERALLY." In short, the subject-matter dealt with here is the very theme which the Upanishads have indicated in their secret verses, especially so "in its passages about Brahman."
Why should we so readily accept these statements of the Rishis in the Upanishads except in a stunned admiration nurtured by our blind belief in them? Krishna points out that even if we had no great respect or reverence for the Rishis as such, we will have to accept their declarations because they are not intellectual dictations, or divine commandments, thrust upon the helpless laity by some winged angels assuming divine prerogative and claiming special sources of secret knowledge. This is the general attitude that poisons the scriptures of almost all other religions. As a contrast to them, our Upanisadic declarations are "FULL OF REASONING AND SO CONVINCING."
When a truth is declared, along with logical reasoning, the conclusions arrived at are acceptable to any intelligent student by the sheer force of its appeal.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
Bg 13.4
tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca yad-vikāri yataś ca yat
sa ca yo yat-prabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me śṛṇu
Bg 13.5
ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaṁ chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak
brahma-sūtra-padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ
Translation
3. Know Me as the "Knower-of-the-Field" in all "Fields," O Bharata; Knowledge of the "Field" as also of the "knower-of-the-Field" is considered by Me to be My Knowledge.
4. What that Field is; of what nature it is; what are its modifications; whence it is; and also who He is; and what His powers are --- these hear from Me in brief.
5. RISHIS have sung (about the "Field" and the "Knower-of-the-Field" ) in many ways, in various distinctive chants and also in the suggestive words indicative of BRAHMAN, full of reason and decision.
Commentary
After indicating, in the previous stanza, the world-of-matter and the thrilling Spirit-of-Truth that presides over it, here is a staggering announcement, "I AM THE KNOWER-OF-THE-FIELD IN ALL FIELDS." If, in all "Fields" the "Knower" is one, then the plurality is only in the matter-envelopments, and the Life that presides over them is one everywhere. This Universal One, the Transcendental Truth is indicated here by the first person singular "I AM" because every seeker has to rediscover in himself, "That I am" (Soham).
We had already indicated earlier that Lord Krishna is expounding the Geeta in a rare moment of Yogic integration (Yogarudha state). He is identifying himself with the Self that is everywhere. This is something like electricity declaring: "I am the one energy that gives the glow in all filaments all over the world."
After indicating the One Spirit behind the entire world-of-matter, wherever it may be, Krishna declares that, according to Him, a correct knowledge (vitally experienced and lived) of what constitutes in each one of us the perishable, changeable, finite, inert matter, and of the nature of the Infinite, Imperishable and Sentient Spirit --- is the Supreme Knowledge. Kshetra is the field-of-matter which is constituted of the various equipments of perception and the vast fields of the perceived. Kshetrajna is the subject that enjoys the activities of the instruments of perception and the world perceived by them. To distinguish the world-of-the-subject from the world-of-the-objects is the salutary Knowledge, which can redeem us from the confusions and sorrows from which we suffer today as individualised egos.
SINCE A PRECISE KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD OF SUBJECT AND OF THE OBJECTS IS UNAVOIDABLE TO A TRUE SEEKER WALKING THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE, WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE AN EXHAUSTIVE STUDY OF THEM. THEREFORE:
OF WHAT NATURE --- Not only are we going to have a discussion of what constitutes the "Field", the Kshetra, but also of what it is in itself. "OF WHAT NATURE", meaning, what are its properties. "AND WHENCE IS WHAT" meaning, what effects arise from what causes i. e. what are the by-products when it changes its form? What is its origin? Who is He, the Knowing Principle in the field? What are His powers of perception, feeling and thought? All these "HEAR, BRIEFLY FROM ME."
A mere repetition of the qualities of the Infinite Self is, in itself, of no profit at all to a true seeker. Nor can any evolution actually take place by an over-emphasis of the qualities of the Spirit. To close our eyes to the causes that create our present problems is not to solve the problems. The world-of-matter that has been projected by ourselves around us and the process by which we work through it to perceive the infinite varieties of objects, feelings and thoughts --- all these are to be brought under our close observation and study. To ignore them is to cheat ourselves so much about the "essential knowledge."
At least a working knowledge of the enemy's strategy is essential in planning our anti-strategic movements. To know the nature of all matter envelopments --- their play, and how they behave under given sets of different circumstances --- is to know the "Field" where we have to battle for release and win our victory.
Thus physiology, biology, psychology and all the natural sciences have a real quota of help to give us. The spiritual "path," especially the 'Path-of-Knowledge,' is the culmination and the fulfilment of the secular sciences. This is very well brought out by the fact that, when Lord Krishna, even in the midst of the battle-front, is trying to explain the secrets of the Spirit to the warrior Arjuna, He does not fail to emphasise the importance of a close study of the "Field" provided by the world-of-matter.
IN ORDER TO CREATE A LIVELY ENTHUSIASM IN THE STUDENTS TO OBSERVE, STUDY AND UNDERSTAND THE WORLD-OF-MATTER AROUND THE SPIRIT, KRISHNA IS GLORIFYING THE VERY THEME OF THIS CHAPTER. LISTEN:
The explanations that are to follow are not idle talk, or clever intellectual manifestations, springing from the fertile imagination of Shri Krishna. In the entire discourse, (in Chapter XIII itself) Krishna assures us that what He explains is only a healthy restatement of what "HAS BEEN SUNG BY THE RISHIS IN MANY WAYS, IN DIFFERENT HYMNS, SEVERALLY." In short, the subject-matter dealt with here is the very theme which the Upanishads have indicated in their secret verses, especially so "in its passages about Brahman."
Why should we so readily accept these statements of the Rishis in the Upanishads except in a stunned admiration nurtured by our blind belief in them? Krishna points out that even if we had no great respect or reverence for the Rishis as such, we will have to accept their declarations because they are not intellectual dictations, or divine commandments, thrust upon the helpless laity by some winged angels assuming divine prerogative and claiming special sources of secret knowledge. This is the general attitude that poisons the scriptures of almost all other religions. As a contrast to them, our Upanisadic declarations are "FULL OF REASONING AND SO CONVINCING."
When a truth is declared, along with logical reasoning, the conclusions arrived at are acceptable to any intelligent student by the sheer force of its appeal.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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