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Chapter 13 · Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness · 35 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Soul & knowledgeChapter 13 · Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 13.2

The body, its knower and the field of knowledge

Prakṛti · Material nature

अर्जुन उवाच

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च ।

एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव ॥ १ ॥

श्रीभगवानुवाच

इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते ।

एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहु: क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विद: ॥ २ ॥

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

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.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

The Body and Its Knower

  1. 1

    Kṛṣṇa says the body is the field, and the one who knows it is the knower of the field.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that the body is the conditioned soul’s field of activity. The soul is different from the body and is always subordinate to the Supreme Lord.

  3. 3

    Reflect on how your body has changed since childhood while you remain the same person. This helps you understand that you are different from your body.

Key points from the purport

Krishna answers about the Kshetra and Kshetra-jna — This answers Arjuna’s third and fourth question

This body is called the field – ‘Kshetra’

One who knows this body is called the knower of the field – ‘Kshetra-jna’

a

Body as the field of activity

For whom – For the conditioned soul

Why does he get this field - Soul is entrapped in material existence because of his attempts to Lord it over

Criteria to decide which body

According to the capacity to dominate material energy

According to the capacity to enjoy sense gratification, one gets a particular body to function accordingly

b

Kshetra-jna — How to understand the difference between the body and the knower of the body

Based on changing phases of the body – Body is constantly changing from childhood to old age, but one remains the same person (Ref. Bg. 2.13 – “Dehino asmin…”)

Intuitive understanding

Although we may use many articles, we are different from the body and those articles

We may think “I am happy”, “I am man”, etc. These are bodily designations of the knower

c

Comparison of knowledge in three sections of the Bhagavad-gita

First six chapters – Discusses the knower of the body and the position by which he can understand the Supreme Lord

Middle six chapters – Discusses the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the relationship between the individual soul and the Supersoul in regards to Devotional Service

It describes the superior position of Krishna and subordinate position of living entity

Four kinds of pious men who approach the Lord

Last six chapters

Explains how the living entity comes in contact with the material nature

Explains how living entity is delivered by the Lord through different methods

Further reading

Arjuna’s Six Questions & Krishna Explains The Field Of

ACTIVITIES AND THE KNOWER OF THE FIELD (Text 13.2 – 13.7 answers the 3rd, 4th and 5th questions)

Krishna explains the field of activities as the body, by which the soul engages within his allotted sphere of activities within the material world

The soul, the knower of the field, has knowledge of his own field of activities

Krishna, as the Supersoul, is the knower of all fields of activity of all living entities

Knowledge is to know the field and its knowers

Chapter 13, section I: Arjuna’s Six Questions & Krishna Explains The Field Of
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. arjunaḥ uvācaArjuna said
  2. prakṛtimnature
  3. puruṣamthe enjoyer
  4. caalso
  5. evacertainly
  6. kṣetramthe field
  7. kṣetra-jñamthe knower of the field
  8. evacertainly
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

  • Body

    The body is described as the field of activities.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 13.2 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to soul & knowledge?

Practice

Spend five minutes reflecting on what in you does not change.

5

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 13 ›
6

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Live this todayKnow the Two KnowersA practice from BG 13.3, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.