Bg. 13.3 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG 13.3

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Devanagari

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत । क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ॥ ३ ॥

Verse text

kṣetra-jṣaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata kṣetra-kṣetrajṣayor jṣānaṁ yat taj jṣānaṁ mataṁ mama

Synonyms

kṣetra-jṣam — the knower of the field ; ca — also ; api — certainly ; mām — Me ; viddhi — know ; sarva — all ; kṣetreṣu — in bodily fields ; bhārata — O son of Bharata ; kṣetra — the field of activities (the body) ; kṣetra-jṣayoḥ — and the knower of the field ; jṣānam — knowledge of ; yat — that which ; tat — that ; jṣānam — knowledge ; matam — opinion ; mama — My.

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.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

3. O descendent of Bharata, know that I also am the knower of the field in all bodies. According to Me, knowledge means knowledge of the field and knowledge of the two types of knowers of the field.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

3. O descendent of Bharata, know that I alone am the knower of the field in all bodies. According to Me, knowledge means knowledge of the two knowers and the field.

Purport

While discussing the subject of the body and the knower of the body, the soul and the Supersoul, we shall find three different topics of study: the Lord, the living entity, and matter. In every field of activities, in every body, there are two souls: the individual soul and the Supersoul. Because the Supersoul is the plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa says, “I am also the knower, but I am not the individual knower of the body. I am the superknower. I am present in every body as the Paramātmā, or Supersoul.” One who studies the subject matter of the field of activity and the knower of the field very minutely, in terms of this Bhagavad-gītā, can attain to knowledge. The Lord says, “I am the knower of the field of activities in every individual body.” The individual may be the knower of his own body, but he is not in knowledge of other bodies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present as the Supersoul in all bodies, knows everything about all bodies. He knows all the different bodies of all the various species of life. A citizen may know everything about his patch of land, but the king knows not only his palace but all the properties possessed by the individual citizens. Similarly, one may be the proprietor of the body individually, but the Supreme Lord is the proprietor of all bodies. The king is the original proprietor of the kingdom, and the citizen is the secondary proprietor. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the supreme proprietor of all bodies. The body consists of the senses. The Supreme Lord is Hṛṣīkeśa, which means “the controller of the senses.” He is the original controller of the senses, just as the king is the original controller of all the activities of the state; the citizens are secondary controllers. The Lord says, “I am also the knower.” This means that He is the superknower; the individual soul knows only his particular body. In the Vedic literature, it is stated as follows: kṣetrāṇi hi śarīrāṇi bījaṁ cāpi śubhāśubhe tāni vetti sa yogātmā tataḥ kṣetra-jṣa ucyate This body is called the kṣetra, and within it dwells the owner of the body and the Supreme Lord, who knows both the body and the owner of the body. Therefore He is called the knower of all fields. The distinction between the field of activities, the knower of activities, and the supreme knower of activities is described as follows. Perfect knowledge of the constitution of the body, the constitution of the individual soul, and the constitution of the Supersoul is known in terms of Vedic literature as jṣāna. That is the opinion of Kṛṣṇa. To understand both the soul and the Supersoul as one yet distinct is knowledge. One who does not understand the field of activity and the knower of activity is not in perfect knowledge. One has to understand the position of prakṛti (nature), puruṣa (the enjoyer of nature) and īśvara (the knower who dominates or controls nature and the individual soul). One should not confuse the three in their different capacities. One should not confuse the painter, the painting and the easel. This material world, which is the field of activities, is nature, and the enjoyer of nature is the living entity, and above them both is the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead. It is stated in the Vedic language (in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 1.12), bhoktā bhogyaṁ preritāraṁ ca matvā/ sarvaṁ proktaṁ tri-vidhaṁ brahmam etat. There are three Brahman conceptions: prakṛti is Brahman as the field of activities, and the jīva (individual soul) is also Brahman and is trying to control material nature, and the controller of both of them is also Brahman, but He is the factual controller. In this chapter it will also be explained that out of the two knowers, one is fallible and the other is infallible. One is superior and the other is subordinate. One who understands the two knowers of the field to be one and the same contradicts the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who states here very clearly, “I am also the knower of the field of activity.” One who misunderstands a rope to be a serpent is not in knowledge. There are different kinds of bodies, and there are different owners of the bodies. Because each individual soul has his individual capacity for lording it over material nature, there are different bodies. But the Supreme also is present in them as the controller. The word ca is significant, for it indicates the total number of bodies. That is the opinion of Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the Supersoul present in each and every body apart from the individual soul. And Kṛṣṇa explicitly says here that real knowledge is to know that the Supersoul is the controller of both the field of activities and the finite enjoyer.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

It has been said that the jīva is the knower of the field because of his knowledge of his body. But the Paramātmā also is the knower of the field because He knows all bodies completely. “Know that I, the Paramātmā situated as the monitor in all the bodies, am the knower of the field. Each jīva has knowledge of his particular body, but not of all bodies. But I, though one person, have knowledge of all bodies completely.” This distinction should be understood. What is knowledge? Knowledge of the jīva and Paramātmā, both knowers of the field, along with knowledge of the field, is called knowledge according to Me. Explaining this verse in a different way, saying that there is only one jīva in existence, one knower of the field, [Note: This is the case in Māyāvāda philosophy. Baladeva in his commentary explains and defeats this interpretation.] cannot be accepted, since that opinion is contradicted by the later statement uttamaḥ puruṣas tv anyaḥ paramātmety udāhṛtaḥ: but there is another supreme person called the Paramātmā. (15.17)

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

The Lord has spoken of the jīva as the “knower of the field,” since he has knowledge about the body. Now the Lord says that the paramātmā is also the knower of the field. O Bhārata, know that I alone am the knower of the field in all fields (bodies.) The word api indicates exclusivity. The jīvas know their own individual bodies as means of enjoyment and liberation, as citizens know the field they own and cultivate. But I alone, the Lord of all, know all these fields (bodies) which must be supported by Me for their very existence. Thus I am the knower of all fields, like a king. Smṛti states that the Lord of all, being the lord of all the fields, is the knower of aḷl the fields: kṣetrāṇi hi śarīrāṇi bījaṁ cāpi śubhāśubhe tāni vetti sa yogātmā tataḥ kṣetrajṣa ucyate The Supreme Lord, yogātmā, knows these bodies as fields and as the source of piety and sin. He is called the knower of the field. Mahābhārata 12.339.6 What is knowledge? I consider knowledge to be the ability to distinguish between the two knowers of the field—the jīva and the Lord— and relation of these two with the field (prakṛti or the body). What is other than this I consider ignorance. The following should be understood in this regard. Though prakṛti, jīva and the Lord combine together, there is no mixture of their respective qualities as the enjoyed, the enjoyer and the controller, as would happen in a dyed cloth. Thus the writer of Vedānta says na tu dṛṣṭānta-bhāvāt: the Lord is not tainted by the material world, as there are examples showing this. (Vedānta Sūtra 2.9) The śrutis also speak of the distinction of qualities between the items: pṛthag ātmānaṁ preritāraṁ ca matvā juṣṭas tatas tenāmṛtatvam eti Knowing himself to be different from He who inspires actions, invoking the pleasure of the Lord, that person attains liberation. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 1.6 jṣājṣau dvāv ajāv īśānīśānāv ajā hy ekā bhoktṛ-bhogārtha-yuktā One is omniscient, the other ignorant. One is the controller, the other is controlled. Both are without birth. The unborn prakṛti is associated with the jīva for his enjoyment. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 1.9 kṣaraṁ pradhānam amṛtākṣaraṁ haraḥ kṣarātmānāv īśate deva ekaḥ The pradhāna is mutable. The jīva (hara—taker of prakṛti) is immutable, being eternal. The one Lord controls the pradhāna and the jīva. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 1.10 bhoktā bhogyaṁ preritāraṁ ca matvā sarvaṁ proktaṁ trividhaṁ brahmam etat This brahman has been described as three: the enjoyer, the object of enjoyment and the inspirer. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 1.12 ajām ekām lohita-śukla-kṛṣṇāṁ bahvīḥ prajāḥ sṛjamānāṁ sarūpāḥ ajo hy eko juṣamāṇo’nuśete jahāty enāṁ bhukta-bhogāṁ ajo’nyaḥ The unborn is situated with the one unborn prakṛti which is red, white and black and which produces many entities of similar form. One jīva enjoys and associates closely with those forms, while another jīva, having enjoyed, gives up those objects of enjoyment. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 4.5 pradhāna-kṣetrajṣa-patir guṇeśaḥ He is the master of matter and jīva, endowed with all good qualities. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.16 From these verses it should understood that the Lord maintains distinction from matter and jīva (kṣetra and kṣetra jṣa), indicated by the words kṣara and akṣara, even though He associates with them. As will be shown by verses like dvāv imau puruṣau (BG 15.16), real knowledge means understanding the separate existence of the Lord, jīva and prakṛti, though they mix together. Those who advocate existence of only one ātmā (such as Śaṅkara) make the following claim. Taking the identity of knower of the field previously defined as the jīva with the Lord by grammatical identity of case (kṣetera jṣam = mām, know that the knower of the field (jīva) is I), they say that when the Lord says “Know that I am the knower of all fields,” it means “Know that I am the jīva. The jīva and the Lord are the same.” Even the Supreme Lord, by ignorance, takes Himself to be a knower of the field, a jīva, just as a person in error takes a rope to be a snake. In order to dispel that illusion of being a mere jīva, this statement of oneness is made by the Lord, the highest authority of truth. By the statement “I, Supreme Brahman, am the jīva” the error of thinking Himself to be an individual jīva (different from other jīvas and the Lord) is destroyed, just as illusion of a snake is destroyed by saying “this rope is not a snake.” That argument is rejected, because of the impossibility of teaching anything in this way. [Note: If the Lord is in ignorance how can He teach? If he is beyond duality, then He has no other object to whom He can teach.] One should consult the commentary on dehino’smin (BG 2.13) for the explanation. In this manner, another interpretation is apt. The word ca indicates “all fields.” Know that I alone am the field as a whole and knower of the field in all bodies. Know that the field and knower of the field are not different from Me since I pervade everything and everything is dependent on Me for its manifestation and continued existence. Thus I consider knowledge as knowing Me to be the field and knower of the field as I am one with them by maintaining and pervading them both. This I consider knowledge. Other ideas are not.

Surrender Unto Me

Three questions have been answered. The first one: What is ksetra? and then: What is ksetrajna?. One kind is the soul and the other kind is the Supersoul. What is the difference between the soul and the Supersoul? The Supersoul knows all bodies, all fields. He is like the King who knows what is going on in everyone's field. But the soul only knows what is going on in his own field, his own body. What is jnana? ‑ To know the difference between the field and the knower of the field, specially the Supersoul. To know about the body, the soul and the Supersoul ‑ this is knowledge. We have already come in contact with this point in Chapter Five (a more jnana type of chapter), where we have understood the difference between these three aspects: the soul, the Supersoul and the body. If one knows that he is not this body, he is enlightened ‑ this is jnana, coming from the mo goodness ‑ but this is not enough. In order to bring one to the platform of brahma‑bhuta, one needs knowledge of the Supersoul ‑ the Supreme Lord. Also the living entity knows only his own body but imperfectly. And the Supersoul knows all bodies and perfectly. Srila Prabhupada says in his Purport: "Perfect knowledge of the constitution of the body, the constitution of the individual soul, and the constitution of the Supersoul is known in terms of Vedic literature as jnana. That is the opinion of Krsna. To understand both the soul and the Supersoul as one yet distinct is knowledge. One who does not understand the field of activity and the knower of activity is not in perfect knowledge. One has to understand the position of prakrti (nature), purusa (the enjoyer of nature) and isvara (the knower who dominates or controls nature and the individual soul). One should not confuse the three in their different capacities." Srila Prabhupada in his Purport is actually giving the answers to questions 1 and 2, because he is saying what is prakrti and what is purusa. And he is explainning the two kinds of purusas.