In chapter thirteen Lord Krishna tells about the field of action, about the knower of the field of action, about Spirit, the Atma, and about matter, Nature, about knowledge and ignorance, about Parbrahm, the Absolute, and about salvation.
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Arjuna asks Krishna : Keshava, What is Kshetra, and what is the Kshetragya? What is knowledge, and what is the purpose and goal of that knowledge ?
Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna : Partha, this body is the Kshetra, it is the Field where all the actions are done and also where the rewards of those actions are reaped. This is also Nature and Matter.
He who knows the truth about the Field, and also about the working of the Field, is called the Kshetragya, the Knower of the field.
In all the Fields, know Me to be The Knower of all the fields.
Fully understanding the knowledge of the Field, and the Knower of the field, understanding them both, is considered by Me to be true knowledge.
Now I will tell you in brief what the Field is, of what type it is, from where it has come, what its modifications are, who is the Knower of the Field, and what his powers are.
The Sages of old have expounded about the Field and its Knower through various verses, and these have also been described in detail, along with critiques and commentaries, in the ancient scriptures.
In brief, along with its various modifications, the different parts of the Field are :
the five basic elements, which are earth, water, fire, wind and the sky,
the ten sense organs, of which five are the knowledge organs-eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin,
five are the action organs-speech, legs, hands, anus and the regenerative organs,
five are objects of the senses-form, smell, taste, touch and sound,
and also, the ego, the intellect, and the three attributes of Nature--Sattvaguna, Rajoguna and Tamoguna, in an unmanifest form,
the mind, desire, and hatred, the physical body, patience, and fortitude.
All these together constitute the field.
And knowledge is : absence of pride and arrogance, absence of deceit, non-violence, forgiveness, patience and fortitude, simplicity of the mind and speech,
serving the teacher with devotion and faith, purity of both body and mind, steadiness and self control, dispassion and detachment from the objects of the senses,
absence of ego, the feeling of "I," the feeling of "mine," no attachment towards sons, daughters, wife, and residence, absence of attraction, remaining the same in the pleasant and the unpleasant,
constant devotion to, and worship of Me, without any distraction, living in a solitary place, and shunning crowds of people.
Constantly remaining immersed and absorbed in the knowledge of the Atma.
Seeking the Lord in every element, and seeing Him everywhere.
All this is true knowledge, and whatever is against this, and every thing else is ignorance.
Now I will tell you that which is worth knowing, and knowing which, one attains Supreme Bliss, one attains the Supreme state of Liberation.
That is Parbrahm, The Absolute, which is without beginning, which is everlasting and eternal. It is beyond both Truth and Untruth, the Real and the Unreal.
Its hands and feet, its head, its face, its eyes and its ears are everywhere, facing all directions.
Pervading all objects and every thing, it resides in the world.
It has attributes and qualities of all the senses, and yet it is without them too.
It remains unattached yet it supports all. It is without attributes, yet it enjoys all attributes.
It is inside all animate and inanimate objects, the moving and the non moving, and it is outside them as well.
It moves, and It moves not. It is so subtle that it cannot be known. It is very far and yet it is very near.
It is indivisible, yet it appears to be divided in all that exists.
It should be understood, that it nurtures and nourishes all, It destroys them, and brings them forth anew again, gives them a new life all over again.
It is the light of lights. It is beyond darkness and it dispels darkness too.
It is knowledge and it is the object of knowledge, and it is the goal of knowledge too.
It resides in the hearts of all.
In this way the Field, Knowledge, and the object of Knowledge have been briefly described.
Whosoever understands this, he becomes capable of attaining My status.
Understand this very well that Atma and Nature, are both without beginning, and also understand that all the defects in beings, and all the good qualities in them, are born of that very Nature.
Nature is the cause of all that happens in the world. The bodies of all beings, as well as the senses, are all born of Nature.
All actions, all acts and the means and agency for doing all these acts and actions, are also because of Nature.
But the experience of happiness and sorrow during the lifetime of beings is on account of the Atma, the Spirit.
Situated in Nature, the Atma experiences the attributes of Nature, it enjoys them. It is attachment to these attributes, that is the cause of good or bad classes of births for beings.
But there is yet another Supreme Enjoyer, situated in the body, who is the Lord, the Witness, the One who gives approval, the One who supports, The Enjoyer, called the Great Lord, the Param Atma.
He who, in this way knows Spirit and Matter, Atma and Nature, along with their attributes, no matter what actions he keeps doing in the present, he would not be born again.
Some try to see the Lord within themselves through meditation, some through knowledge, while some try to see him through the yoga of selfless action.
But there are many others, who do not know these paths of meditation, knowledge and selfless action. Such people hear about Me from the wise and the realized, and believing, and having faith in what they have heard, they start worshiping Me, and through this worship of Me, they too, cross over death.
Partha, understand this that whatever is born in this world, animate or inanimate, moving or non moving, is born because of the union of the Spirit and Matter, the union of the Atma and Nature, because of the joining of these two.
The person who sees the same Atma, the same Spirit, residing in every object, and on that object perishing or being destroyed, who does not see the Atma, the Spirit, being destroyed, he sees truly, he sees the truth.
Because he sees the Lord God in the same form everywhere, therefore he does not cause trouble to himself by his mind, and then he attains the Supreme State, he attains Salvation.
The person who sees that all acts and actions are done only by the body, which is born of Nature, and who also knows that the Atma, the Soul is not the doer of the actions, he truly knows, and he truly understands.
When he understands this, that even though all things appear to be separate, yet they are concentrated in that One, from whom the entire creation emerges and spreads, from whom this whole expansion takes place, then he attains the Absolute, the Supreme.
Because the Supreme Being, the Param Atma, is without beginning , is imperishable, is without attributes, is without blemish, is without qualities, therefore, though He resides in the body, yet, neither does He do any work, any action, nor is He attached to any work, nor is He bound by any action or any work.
Just as the all pervading atmosphere, on account of its subtleness, does not get attached to any thing or to any object, it does not get stuck to anything, so too, does the Dweller in the bodies, the Atma, the Soul, does not get attached to the bodies, it does not stick to the bodies.
Just as a single sun lights up the whole world, in the same way the Lord of the Field lights up His entire field.
In this way, those people who, through their eyes of knowledge, know the difference between the Field and its Knower, who are able to distinguish between the two, and who also know the way, the method, of how all beings can be freed from Nature, they definitely, with that knowledge, attain the Supreme Goal.
End of Chapter Thirteen
OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI OM
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