Bhagavad Gita

भगवद् गीता

Text & Audio

with paraphrase

Chapter 13

1. Audio

By Swami Brahmananda
Duet
By Jagannath Vedalankar

अर्जुन उवाच:

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च ।

एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव ॥

arjuna uvāca:

prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva kṣetraṃ kṣetrajñameva ca,

etadveditumicchāmi jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ ca keśava.

Arjuna said: Prakriti and Purusha, the Field and the Knower of the Field. Knowledge and the object of Knowledge, these I fain would learn. O Keshava.

श्रीभगवानुवाच:

इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते ।

एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः ॥

śrībhagavānuvāca:

idaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetramityabhidhīyate,

etadyo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ.

The Blessed Lord said: This body, O son of Kunti, is called the Field; that which takes cognizance of the Field is called the Knower of the Field by the sages.

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत ।

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ॥

kṣetrajñaṃ cāpi māṃ viddhi sarvakṣetreṣu bhārata,

kṣetrakṣetrajñayorjñānaṃ yattajjñānaṃ mataṃ mama.

Understand Me as the Knower of the Field in all Fields, O Bharata; it is the knowledge at once of the Field and its Knower which is the real illumination and only wisdom.

तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक्च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत् ।

स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे शृणु ॥

tatkṣetraṃ yacca yādṛkca yadvikāri yataśca yat,

sa ca yo yatprabhāvaśca tatsamāsena me śṛṇu.

What that Field is and what are its character, nature, source, deformations, and what He is and what His Powers, hear that now briefly from Me.

ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधैः पृथक् ।

ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्चितैः ॥

ṛṣibhirbahudhā gītaṃ chandobhirvividhaiḥ pṛthak,

brahmasūtrapadaiścaiva hetumadbhirviniścitaiḥ.

It has been sung by the Rishis in manifold ways in various inspired verses; and also by the Brahma Sutras which give us the rational and philosophic analysis.

महाभूतान्यहंकारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च ।

इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पंच चेन्द्रियगोचराः ॥

mahābhūtānyahaṃkāro buddhiravyaktameva ca,

indriyāṇi daśaikaṃ ca paṃca cendriyagocarāḥ.

The indiscriminate unmanifest Energy; the five elemental states of matter; the ten senses and the one (mind), intelligence and ego; the five objects of the senses. (This is the constitution of the kshetra.)

इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं संघातश्चेतना धृतिः ।

एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम् ॥

icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ saṃghātaścetanā dhṛtiḥ,

etatkṣetraṃ samāsena savikāramudāhṛtam.

Liking and disliking, pleasure and pain (these are the principal deformations of the kshetra): consciousness. collocation, persistence; these, briefly described, constitute the Field and its deformations.

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् ।

आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः ॥

amānitvamadambhitvamahiṃsā kṣāntirārjavam,

ācāryopāsanaṃ śaucaṃ sthairyamātmavinigrahaḥ.

A total absence of worldly pride and arrogance, harmlessness, a candid soul, a tolerant, long-suffering and benignant heart, purity of mind and body, tranquil firmness and steadfastness, self-control and a masterful government of the lower nature and the heart’s worship given to the Teacher.

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहंकार एव च ।

जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ॥

indriyārtheṣu vairāgyamanahaṃkāra eva ca,

janmamṛtyujarāvyādhiduḥkhadoṣānudarśanam.

असक्तिरनभिष्वंगः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु ।

नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ॥

asaktiranabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu,

nityaṃ ca samacittatvamiṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu.

A firm removal of the natural being’s attraction to the objects of the senses, a radical freedom from egoism. absence of clinging to the attachment and absorption of family and home, a keen perception of the defective nature of the ordinary life of physical man with its aimless and painful subjection to birth and death and disease and age. a constant equalness to all pleasant or unpleasant happenings.

मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी ।

विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि ॥

mayi cānanyayogena bhaktiravyabhicāriṇī,

viviktadeśasevitvamaratirjanasaṃsadi.

अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् ।

एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोऽन्यथा ॥

adhyātmajñānanityatvaṃ tattvajñānārthadarśanam,

etajjñānamiti proktamajñānaṃ yadato’nyathā.

A meditative mind turned towards solitude and away from the vain noise of crowds and the assemblies of men. a philosophic perception of the true sense and large principles of existence, a tranquil continuity of inner spiritual knowledge and light, the Yoga of an unswerving devotion, love of God, the heart’s deep and constant adoration of the universal and eternal Presence; that is declared to be the knowledge; all against it is ignorance.

ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुते ।

अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते ॥

jñeyaṃ yattatpravakṣyāmi yajjñātvā’mṛtamaśnute,

anādimatparaṃ brahma na sattannāsaducyate.

I will declare the one object to which the mind of spiritual knowledge must be turned, by fixity in which the soul clouded here recovers and enjoys its nature and original consciousness of immortality, the eternal supreme Brahman called neither Sat (existence) nor Asat (non-existence).

सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम् ।

सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति ॥

sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tatsarvato’kṣiśiromukham,

sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati.

His hands and feet are on every side of us. his heads and eyes and faces are those innumerable visages which we see wherever we turn, his ear is everywhere, he immeasurably fills and surrounds all this world with himself, he is the universal Being in whose embrace we live.

सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम् ।

असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च ॥

sarvendriyaguṇābhāsaṃ sarvendriyavivarjitam,

asaktaṃ sarvabhṛccaiva nirguṇaṃ guṇabhoktṛ ca.

All the senses and their qualities reflect him but he is without any senses; he is unattached, yet all-supporting; he is enjoyer of the gunas, though not limited by them.

बहिरन्तश्च भूतानामचरं चरमेव च ।

सूक्ष्मत्वात्तदविज्ञेयं दूरस्थं चान्तिके च तत् ॥

bahirantaśca bhūtānāmacaraṃ carameva ca,

sūkṣmatvāttadavijñeyaṃ dūrasthaṃ cāntike ca tat.

That which is in us is he and all that we experience outside ourselves is he. The inward and the outward, the far and the near, the moving and the unmoving, all this he is at once. He is the subtlety of the subtle which is beyond our knowledge.

अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम् ।

भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च ॥

avibhaktaṃ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktamiva ca sthitam,

bhūtabhartṛ ca tajjñeyaṃ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca.

He is indivisible and the One, but seems to divide himself in forms and creatures and appears as all the separate existences. All things are eternally born from him, upborne in his eternity, taken eternally back into his oneness.

ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमसः परमुच्यते ।

ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं ज्ञानगम्यं हृदि सर्वस्य विष्ठितम् ॥

jyotiṣāmapi tajjyotistamasaḥ paramucyate,

jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ jñānagamyaṃ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam.

He is the light of all lights and luminous beyond all the darkness of our ignorance. He is knowledge and the object of knowledge. He is seated in the hearts of all.

इति क्षेत्रं तथा ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं चोक्तं सनासतः ।

मद्भक्त एतद्विज्ञाय मद्भावायोपपद्यते ॥

iti kṣetraṃ tathā jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ coktaṃ sanāsataḥ,

madbhakta etadvijñāya madbhāvāyopapadyate.

Thus the Field, Knowledge and the Object of Knowledge, have been briefly told. My devotee, thus knowing, attains to My bhava (the divine being and divine nature).

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्यनादि उभावपि ।

विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसंभवान् ॥

prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva vidyanādi ubhāvapi,

vikārāṃśca guṇāṃścaiva viddhi prakṛtisaṃbhavān.

Know thou that Purusha (the Soul) and Prakriti (Nature) are both without origin and eternal; but the modes of Nature and the lower forms she assumes to our conscious experience have an origin in Prakriti (in the transactions of these two entities).

कार्यकारणकर्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिरुच्यते ।

पुरुषः सुखदुःखानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते ॥

kāryakāraṇakartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtirucyate,

puruṣaḥ sukhaduḥkhānāṃ bhoktṛtve heturucyate.

The chain of cause and effect and the state of being the doer are created by Prakriti: Purusha enjoys pleasure and pain.

पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुंक्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान् ।

कारणं गुणसंगोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु ॥

puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijānguṇān,

kāraṇaṃ guṇasaṅgo’sya sadasadyonijanmasu.

Purusha involved in Prakriti enjoys the qualities born of Prakriti; attachment to the qualities is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs.

उपद्रष्टानुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः ।

परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः ॥

upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ,

paramātmeti cāpyukto dehe’sminpuruṣaḥ paraḥ.

Witness, source of the consent, upholder of the work of Nature, her enjoyer, almighty Lord and supreme Self is the Supreme Soul seated in this body.

य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैः सह ।

सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते ॥

ya evaṃ vetti puruṣaṃ prakṛtiṃ ca guṇaiḥ saha,

sarvathā vartamāno’pi na sa bhūyo’bhijāyate.

He who thus knows Purusha and Prakriti with her qualities, howsoever he lives and acts, he shall not be born again.

ध्यानेनात्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिदात्मानमात्मना ।

अन्ये सांख्येन योगेन कर्मयोगेन चापरे ॥

dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecidātmānamātmanā,

anye sāṅkhyena yogena karmayogena cāpare.

This knowledge comes by an inner meditation through which the eternal Self becomes apparent to us in our self-existence. Or it comes by the Yoga of the Sankhyas (the separation of the soul from nature). Or it comes by the Yoga of works.

अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्तः श्रुत्वान्येभ्य उपासते ।

तेऽपि चातितरन्त्येव मृत्युं श्रुतिपरायणाः ॥

anye tvevamajānantaḥ śrutvānyebhya upāsate,

te’pi cātitarantyeva mṛtyuṃ śrutiparāyaṇāḥ.

Others, who are ignorant of these paths of Yoga, may hear of the truth from others and mould the mind into the sense of that to which it listens with faith and concentration. But however arrived at, it carries us beyond death to immortality.

यावत्संजायते किंचित्सत्त्वं स्थावरजंगमम् ।

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञसंयोगात्तद्विद्धि भरतर्षभ ॥

yāvatsaṃjāyate kiṃcitsattvaṃ sthāvarajaṅgamam,

kṣetrakṣetrajñasaṃyogāttadviddhi bharatarṣabha.

Whatever being, moving or unmoving, is born, know thou, O best of the Bharatas, that it is from the union between the Field and the Knower of the Field.

समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्

विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥

samaṃ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṃ parameśvaram

vinaśyatsvavinaśyantaṃ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati.

Seated equally in all beings, the supreme Lord, unperishing within the perishing — he who thus sees, he sees.

समं पश्यन्हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम् ।

न हिनस्त्यात्मनात्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥

samaṃ paśyanhi sarvatra samavasthitamīśvaram,

na hinastyātmanātmānaṃ tato yāti parāṃ gatim.

Perceiving the equal Lord as the spiritual inhabitant in all forces, in all things and in all beings, he does not injure himself (by casting his being into the hands of desire and passions), and thus he attains to the supreme status.

प्रकृत्यैव च कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि सर्वशः ।

यः पश्यति तथात्मानमकर्तारं स पश्यति ॥

prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ,

yaḥ paśyati tathātmānamakartāraṃ sa paśyati.

He who sees that all action is verily done by Prakriti, and that the Self is the inactive witness, he sees.

यदा भूतपृथग्भावमेकस्थमनुपश्यति ।

तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म संपद्यते तदा ॥

yadā bhūtapṛthagbhāvamekasthamanupaśyati,

tata eva ca vistāraṃ brahma saṃpadyate tadā.

When he perceives the diversified existence of beings abiding in the one eternal Being, and spreading forth from it, then he attains to Brahman.

अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः ।

शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते ॥

anāditvānnirguṇatvātparamātmāyamavyayaḥ,

śarīrastho’pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate.

Because it is without origin and eternal, not limited by the qualities, the imperishable supreme Self. though seated in the body, O Kaunteya, does not act, nor is affected.

यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते ।

सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥

yathā sarvagataṃ saukṣmyādākāśaṃ nopalipyate,

sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate.

As the all-pervading ether is not affected by reason of its subtlety, so seated everywhere in the body. the Self is not affected.

यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविः ।

क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥

yathā prakāśayatyekaḥ kṛtsnaṃ lokamimaṃ raviḥ,

kṣetraṃ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṃ prakāśayati bhārata.

As the one sun illumines the entire earth, so the Lord of the Field illumines the entire Field, O Bharata.

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोरेवमन्तरं ज्ञानचक्षुषा ।

भूतप्रकृतिमोक्षं च ये विदुर्यान्ति ते परम् ॥

kṣetrakṣetrajñayorevamantaraṃ jñānacakṣuṣā,

bhūtaprakṛtimokṣaṃ ca ye viduryānti te param.

They who with the eye of knowledge perceive this difference between the Field and the Knower of the Field and the liberation of beings from Prakriti, they attain to the Supreme.