CHAPTER 13: KSETRA KSETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA

Arjuna said:

Of Purusha and Prakriti,
The Field and Knower of the Field,
And Knowledge, and the objects known,
I wish to know, O Kesava.

The Blessed Lord said:

This body, verily, is described,
O son of Kunti, as the Field;
Who knoweth this is called by those
Who know, as Knower of the Field.

And understand, O Arjuna, thou,
I am the Knower of all the Fields;
And that's true knowledge which relates
To Field and Knower of the Field.

What is the Field, and of what kind,
What are its changes, whence it is,
And what the Knower, and what his powers,
Hear now from me that briefly thou.

Rishis have sung of this before
In various ways and many hymns,
In texts that tells of Brahma great,
Convincing, full of reason all.

The Ego and the elements,
Buddhi, and the Unmanifest,
The senses ten, and yet one more,
And objects of the senses five;

Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain,
The body, consciousness, and will,
Thus is described the Field in brief,
With changes that it undergoes.

Humility, sincerity,
Non-killing, patience, honesty,
The teacher's service, purity,
And steadiness, and self-control;

Freedom from objects of the sense,
Freedom from taint of egoism,
Reflection on the ills of birth,
Disease and pain, and age and death.

Detachment, absence of concern
With son, wife, home, and all the rest,
And constant evenness of mind
At pleasant and unpleasant things;

Devotion firm to me alone,
With thought of nothing else besides,
Resort to lonely places pure,
Distaste for company of men;

Pursuit of knowledge of the soul,
And Truth, the end of knowledge all,
This is called Knowledge, all that is
Opposed to this, is ignorance.

I will tell thee now what should be known,
By which is gained immortal bliss,
The highest Brahma, without a source,
And called nor Sat, nor Asat he.

With hands and feet, It is everywhere,
With eyes, head, face on every side;
And everywhere it hath its ears,
And stands pervading everything.

Shining with Gunas of the sense,
And yet devoid of senses all;
Detached and yet sustaining life,
From Gunas free, yet full of love;

Within all beings and without,
Immovable and movable;
Subtle, and so unknowable;
Its stands afar, and yet is near.

Impartible, yet it remains
As if divided in all things;
It's the supporter of all life,
Creating and devouring all.

It is said to be the light of lights
Beyond the realm of darkness far;
Knowledge, its goal, and what is known,
And dwelling in the hearts of all.

I have told thee briefly what is the Field,
And Knowledge, and what should be known;
And Knowing this, my devotee
Is fitted to attain to me.

Know Purusha and Prakriti
Are both without a beginning.
The Gunas and their changes all
Know they are born of Prakriti.

Of actor, action, and its means,
The moving cause is Prakriti.
In feeling pain and pleasure both
Is Purusha the moving cause.

The Purusha in Prakriti
Enjoys the Gunas of it born;
And his attachment to them is
The cause of good and evil birth.

The highest Purusha in this frame
Is witness and permitter called;
Enjoyer and supporter too,
The mighty Lord, the highest soul,

And he who knoweth Purusha,
And, with its Gunas, Prakriti,
Whatever be his mode of life,
He is not born on earth again.

By meditation, by the soul,
Some see the soul within the soul;
And some again by Sankhya Yoga;
Others by Yoga of Action see.

Others again, not knowing this,
Worship, from others as they hear;
And even they cross over death,
Listening to all that they have heard.

Whatever creature that is born,
Immovable or movable,
From union, know it thou to be,
Of Field and Knower of the Field.

He seeth truly who doth see
The Lord supreme in everything;
Abiding equally in all,
Deathless in all the things of death.

Seeing the Lord in everything,
Abiding equally in all,
He injures not his soul by soul,
And so attains to goal supreme.

He seeth truly who doth see
That everywhere all actions are
Performed by Prakriti alone,
And that the soul is actionless.

All separate beings when he sees
Existing in the One alone,
And rising all from that alone,
Then he to Brahma doth attain.

This Soul supreme that cannot die,
Without a source, from Gunas free,
Though dwelling in each bodily frame,
Performs no actions, hath no taint.

As Ether by its subtlety,
Receives no taint, pervading all,
Abiding in each body, so
The soul receiveth never a taint.

A single Sun illuminates
O Bharata, the world entire;
Even so the dweller in the Field
Illuminates the Field entire,

With eye of knowledge those who see
The Field and Knower of the Field,
And freedom from Prakriti gain,
They reach unto the highest goal.