Bg. 13.5

“You say that You will discuss briefly this knowledge of the field and the knower. By whom has this been discussed in detail?” The nature of the field have described profusely by sages such as Parāśara. ahaṁ tvaṁ ca tathānye bhūtair uhyāma pārthiva guṇa-pravāha-patito bhūta-vargo’pi yāty ayam karma-vaśyā guṇā hy ete sattvādyāḥ pṛthivī-pate avidyā-saṣcitaṁ karma tac cāśeṣeṣu jantuṣu ātmā śuddho’kṣaraḥ śānto nirguṇaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ pravṛddhy-apacayau nāsya ekasyākhila-jantuṣu You, I and others are caused by the elements, O king. All living entities, fallen in this flow of material guṇas, proceed through birth and death. They assume the guṇas by karma, and karma is accumulated through ignorance in all the unlimited entities. The pure ātmā is indestructible, peaceful, without those guṇas, superior to prakṛti. It has neither increase nor decrease in all bodies it assumes. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 2.13.69 (As well as by the sages), by all the Vedas (chandobhir) this has been described many times. The Yajur Veda says tasmād vā etasmād ātmana ākāśaḥ sambhūtaḥ: ether arose from the Lord. (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.3) In the section ending brahma pucchaṁ pratiṣṭhā: brahman is the foundation (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.5.1), the five puruṣas consisting of food, prāṇa, mind, knowledge and bliss are described. The first three (food, prāṇa and mind) are material, comprising the kṣetra. The puruṣa composed of knowledge (vijṣāna māyā purusa) is the jīvātmā, the enjoyer of the kṣetra or body. He is the ksetera jṣa. Different from that, at the end of the sequence, is the ānanda māyā puruṣa, the Supreme Lord, who is also kṣetra jṣa. Thus this truth is to be found in the Vedas. As well, by the statements (padaiḥ) of the Brahmā Sūtras, this has been described many times. na viyad aśruteḥ: ether has no origin because it is not otherwise mentioned. [Note: This sutra begins a discussion on whether material ether has an origin or not. The challenge is raised that it has no origin, but this is defeated by later sutras.] (Vedānta Sūtra. 2.3.1) Such verses describe the kṣetra or body. nātmā śruteḥ: soul has no origin because of scriptural statements to that effect. (Vedānta Sūtra 2.3.18) This describes the jīva. parāt tu tac chruteḥ: the actions of the soul arise from the Supreme Lord according to scripture. (Vedānta Sūtra 2.3.39) This describes the Lord. The rest of the verse is clear. Bg 13.6, Bg 13.7, Bg 13.6-7 Maha>aUTaaNYahªarae buiṬrVYa¢-Maev c ) wiNd]Yaai<a dXaEk&- c PaĀ ceiNd]YaGaaecra" )) 6 )) wC^a Ūez" Sau%& du"%& SaºaTaêeTaNaa Da*iTa" ) WTaT+ae}a& SaMaaSaeNa Saivk-arMaudaôTaMa( )) 7 )) mahā-bhūtāny ahaṅkāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca paṣca cendriya-gocarāḥ icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṅghātaś cetanā dhṛtiḥ etat kṣetraṁ samāsena sa-vikāram udāhṛtam mahā-bhūtāni—the great elements; ahaṅkāraḥ—false ego; buddhiḥ—intelligence; avyaktam—the unmanifested; eva—certainly; ca—also; indriyāṇi—the senses; daśa-ekam—eleven; ca—also; paṣca—five; ca—also; indriya-go-carāḥ—the objects of the senses; icchā—desire; dveṣaḥ—hatred; sukham—happiness; duḥkham—distress; saṅghātaḥ—the aggregate; cetanā—living symptoms; dhṛtiḥ—conviction; etat—all this; kṣetram—the field of activities; samāsena—in summary; sa—vikāram—with interactions; udāhṛtam—exemplified. What was promised in the first half of verse three is now explained in two verses: a description of the field. Mahābhūtāni refers to the five gross elements; ether, air, fire, water and earth. Ahaṅkara is its cause, called tamasaḥ bhūtādi, the cause of the elements. Buddhi means mahat-tattva, predominated by jṣāna, which is ahaṁkāra’s cause. Avyakta means pradhāna, containing three guṇas. It is maha-tattva’s cause. Indriyāṇi are the ten external senses, the products of aḥaṅkāra in the mode of passion. These are the five knowledge senses and five action senses. Mind, the product of ahaṅkāra in the mode of goodness, is the internal sense. This makes eleven senses. Indriya gocarā refers to the tan mātrās, sense objects—sound, touch, form, taste and smell. They are subtle in form, being situated between the ahaṇkara and the gross elements, and are manifested as qualities of the gross elements (such as sound as the quality of ether, which they produce). They become gross as the objects of perception of the senses. That which is composed of twenty-four elements is known as the field. Desire, hatred, happiness and distress are well known. These are representative of other qualities such as determination (saṅkalpa) which are not mentioned here explicitly. The list given in the verse is not exhaustive. These are all conditions of the mind. The śruti mentions: kāmaḥ saṅkalpo vicikitsā śraddhā dhṛtir hrīr dhīr bhīr etat sarvam mana eva Desire, determination, uncertainty, faith, lack of faith, perseverance, lack of perseverance, humility, intelligence, and fear are all products of the mind. Bṛhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.5.3 Of course, desire and other qualities are also qualities of the ātmā, for the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (8.1.5) describes the ātmā as having qualities of satya saṅkalpa and satya kāma. And the sahasra nāma stotra also says: imam stavam bhagavato viṣṇor vyāsena kīrtitam paṭhed ya icchet puruṣaḥ śreyah prāptum sukhāni ca That jīva who desires to attain the highest good and all types of happiness should read the glorification of Viṣṇu chanted by Vyāsa. Mahābhārata 13.135.141 The Lord will also later say that the ātmā is the cause of happiness and suffering in this world (BG 13.21). Thus, though desire and other qualities belong to the ātmā, they also the qualities of the material mind, since they appear through the instrument of the mind, and therefore are included as components of the field. Saṅghataḥ refers to the material body, a transformation of the elements, which functions as the support (ādhṛṭi) of the jīva (cetana) who endeavors for enjoyment or liberation. [Note: This is the same as Rāmānjua’s explanation.] The elements starting with pradhāna and ending with the five gross elements [Note: Pradhāna, mahat tattva, false ego and the five gross elements.] are the basic components of the field indicated by the word yac ca in verse 3. The senses such as the ear and the sense objects such as sound are what take shelter of the field, an explanation of the word yādṛk. Desire and the other qualities are the effects of the field, transformations, explaining the word yad vikārī. The body or field is a support for the jīva to enable him to strive for enjoyment or liberation. This explains the word yataḥ, the purpose. The body (saṅghata) is the svarūpa (yat) of the field. These are the explanations of the phrases mentioned in verse 3. Thus the field along with it transformations (birth, growth, maintenance, maturity, dwindling and death) has been briefly described (uḍahṛtam). Bg 13.8, Bg 13.9, Bg 13.10, Bg 13.11, Bg 13.12, Bg 13.8-12 AMaaiNaTvMadiM>aTvMaih&Saa +aaiNTaraJaRvMa( ) AacaYaaeRPaaSaNa& XaaEc& SQaEYaRMaaTMaiviNaGa]h" )) 8 )) wiNd]YaaQaeRzu vEraGYaMaNahªar Wv c ) JaNMaMa*TYauJaraVYaaiDadu"%daezaNaudXaRNaMa( )) 9 )) ASai¢-rNai>aZv(r)" Pau}adarGa*haidzu ) iNaTYa& c SaMaictaTviMaíaiNaíaePaPaitazu )) 10 )) MaiYa caNaNYaYaaeGaeNa >ai¢-rVYai>acair<aq ) iviv¢-deXaSaeivTvMariTaJaRNaSa&Said )) 11 )) ADYaaTMajaNaiNaTYaTv& TatvjaNaaQaRdXaRNaMa( ) WTaJjaNaiMaiTa Pa[ae¢-MajaNa& YadTaae_NYaQaa )) 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-jṣāna-nityatvaṁ tattva-jṣānārtha-darśanam etaj jṣānam iti proktam ajṣānaṁ yad ato 'nyathā amānitvam—humility; adambhitvam—pridelessness; ahiṁsā—nonviolence; kṣāntiḥ—tolerance; ārjavam—simplicity; ācārya-upāsanam—approaching a bona fide spiritual master; śaucam—cleanliness; sthairyam—steadfastness; ātma-vinigrahaḥ—self-control; indriya-artheṣu—in the matter of the senses; vairāgyam—renunciation; anahaṅkāraḥ—being without false egoism; eva—certainly; ca—also; janma—of birth; mṛtyu—death; jarā—old age; vyādhi—and disease; duḥkha—of the distress; doṣa—the fault; anudarśanam—observing; asaktiḥ—being without attachment; anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ—being without association; putra—for son; dāra—wife; gṛha-ādiṣu—home, etc.; nityam—constant; ca—also; sama-cittatvam—equilibrium; iṣṭa—the desirable; aniṣṭa—and undesirable; upapattiṣu—having obtained; mayi—unto Me; ca—also; ananya-yogena—by unalloyed devotional service; bhaktiḥ—devotion; avyabhicāriṇī—without any break; vivikta—to solitary; deśa—places; sevitvam—aspiring; aratiḥ—being without attachment; jana-saṁsadi—to people in general; adhyātma—pertaining to the self; jṣāna—in knowledge; nityatvam—constancy; tattva—jṣāna—of knowledge of the truth; artha—for the object; darśanam—philosophy; etat—all this; jṣānam—knowledge; iti—thus; proktam—declared; ajṣānam—ignorance; yat—that which; ataḥ—from this; anyathā—other. The Lord will describe in detail the two knowers of the field, who should be the real objects of knowledge, who are distinct from the above mentioned field. But first, in five verses, the Lord describes twenty factors which help in attaining this knowledge. Amānitvā means not expecting good reception or respect. Adambhitva means not performing religious activities to become famous as a religious person. Ahiṁśa means not giving pain to other living entities. Kṣānti means toleration of insult. Ārjava means straightforwardness even to the deceitful. Acāryopāsana means service without motivation to the guru who bestows knowledge. Śauca means internal and external purity. The smṛti [Note: Śrīdhara quotes this verse as a śruti.] says: śaucaṁ ca dvividhaṁ proktaṁ bāhyam abhyantaraṁ tathā mṛj-jalābhyāṁ smṛtaṁ bāhyaṁ bhāva-śuddhis tathāntaram There are two types of cleanliness: external and internal. External cleanliness takes place through rubbing with earth and water, and internal cleanliness by purification of mind. Śandilya Upaniṣad Sthairya means steadiness on the spiritual path. Ātma vinigraha means restraining the mind from sense objects which are obstacles for attaining ātmā. Vairāgya indriyārtheṣu means lack of taste for the sense objects which are obstacles. Anahaṅkara means giving up identification with the body and other material objects. Doṣānudarśana means to contemplate repeatedly the faults of birth and other stages of life which give rise to suffering. Asakti is lack of affection for sons and other persons, as affection is an obstacle for the spiritual goal. Anabhiṣvaṅga means lack of absorption in happiness and distress even when they are present. Sama citta means to be at all times without joy or depression on attaining favorable or unfavorable items. Avyabhicāriṇī bhakti means steady bhakti unto Me, the Supreme Lord in such processes as hearing, with great concentration and service to My devotees (ananya yogena). There should be fondness for solitary places and lack of taste for materialistic assemblies. There should be continuous deliberation on the ātmā (adhyātmā). There should be remembrance in the heart (darśanam) for attaining tattva jṣāna. The tattva or truth is that I am the supreme brahman, as is known from the smṛtis in statements such as the following: vadanti tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jṣānam advayam The knowers of tattva say that tattva means non dual knowledge of brahman, paramātmā and bhagavān. SB 1.2.11 What has been described starting with amānitvā (etat) is the process for realization of tattva (jṣānam) both directly and through transmission from previous authorities, for jṣāṇa means “that by which something is known.” And the opposite of this (anyathā), (meaning pride, pretension, violence, intolerance and the rest) is ignorance, contrary to realization.