Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yoga

Arjuna said: O Keshava, I wish to know about Prakriti and Purusha, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and the object of knowledge.

The Supreme Lord said: This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field, and one who knows it is called the knower of the field by those who know the truth.

Know Me also as the knower of the field in all fields, O Bharata.

What that field is, of what nature, what its modifications are, whence it arises, who the knower is, and what his powers are - hear all this from Me in brief.

This truth about the field and its knower has been sung by sages in many ways, in various Vedic hymns, and especially in the well-reasoned and conclusive aphorisms of the Brahma Sutras.

The five great elements, the ego, the intellect, the unmanifest Prakriti, the ten senses and the mind, and the five sense objects -

Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate body, consciousness, and fortitude - this, in brief, has been described as the field with its modifications.

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-violence, forbearance, uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, and self-control -

Detachment from sense objects, absence of egoism, and perception of the evil inherent in birth, death, old age, disease, and suffering -

Non-attachment, absence of clinging to son, wife, home, and the rest, and constant even-mindedness in the face of desirable and undesirable events -

Unswerving devotion to Me through exclusive yoga, resorting to solitary places, and distaste for the company of worldly people -

Constancy in Self-knowledge, and perception of the end of true knowledge - this is declared to be knowledge, and what is contrary to this is ignorance.

I shall declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality - the beginningless Supreme Brahman, which is said to be neither existent nor non-existent.

With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and faces everywhere, with ears everywhere - That exists pervading all in the world.

Illuminating the functions of all the senses, yet devoid of all senses; unattached yet sustaining all; free from the gunas yet the experiencer of the gunas.

Existing outside and inside all beings, the unmoving and also the moving; unknowable because of Its subtlety; far away and yet near.

Undivided yet existing as if divided among beings; It is to be known as the sustainer of beings, their devourer, and their creator.

That is the light of all lights, said to be beyond darkness.

Thus the field, knowledge, and the knowable have been briefly stated.

Know that both Prakriti (material nature) and Purusha (the soul) are beginningless; and know that all modifications and qualities are born of Prakriti.

In the production of the body and the senses, Prakriti is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, the Purusha is said to be the cause.

The Purusha, seated in Prakriti, experiences the qualities born of Prakriti.

The Supreme Purusha in this body is also called the witness, the permitter, the sustainer, the experiencer, the great Lord, and the Supreme Self.

One who thus knows the Purusha and Prakriti together with its gunas - regardless of their present condition of life - is not born again.

Some perceive the Self in the self through meditation; others through the yoga of knowledge (Sankhya); and still others through the yoga of action.

Yet others, not knowing these paths directly, worship having heard from others.

Whatever being is born, whether stationary or moving, know it to be from the union of the field and the knower of the field, O best of the Bharatas.

One who sees the Supreme Lord dwelling equally in all beings, the imperishable within the perishable - that person truly sees.

Seeing the Lord equally present everywhere, one does not destroy the Self by the self, and thus attains the supreme goal.

One who sees that all actions are performed by Prakriti alone, and that the Self is the non-doer - that person truly sees.

When one perceives the diverse existence of beings as rooted in One, and their expansion as proceeding from that One alone - then one attains Brahman.

Being beginningless and devoid of gunas, this imperishable Supreme Self, though dwelling in the body, O son of Kunti, neither acts nor is tainted.

Just as the all-pervading space is not tainted because of its subtlety, so the Self, though present everywhere in the body, is not tainted.

Just as the one sun illuminates this entire world, so the knower of the field illuminates the entire field, O Bharata.