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← Chapter 13: The Yoga of the Field and the Knower of the Field

Verse 13.27

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

यावत्सञ्जायते किञ्चित्सत्त्वं स्थावरजङ्गमम् | क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञसंयोगात्तद्विद्धि भरतर्षभ ||२७||

Transliteration (IAST)

yāvat sañjāyate kiñcit sattvaṁ sthāvara-jaṅgamam | kṣetra-kṣetrajña-saṁyogāt tad viddhi bharatarṣabha ||27||

Word-by-Word Meanings

yāvat-whatever
sañjāyate-comes into being
kiñcit-anything
sattvam-being/entity
sthāvara-stationary
jaṅgamam-moving
kṣetra-kṣetrajña-saṁyogāt-from the union of field and knower
bharatarṣabha-O best of the Bharatas

Translation

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.

Commentary

All manifest existence arises from the conjunction of matter (kṣetra) and consciousness (kṣetrajña). This applies universally - from the smallest insect to the highest celestial being. Shankaracharya explains this 'union' as the superimposition (adhyāsa) of the properties of one upon the other. Ramanuja interprets it as the soul's embodiment in matter through God's will.

Themes

jnanaatman