The Body as the Field: Understanding the Self

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

The Supreme Lord said: O Arjuna! This body is called 'field' by this name and he who knows it is called 'knower of the field' by the wise who know its essence. || 1 ||

Know Me as the Knower of the field in all fields, O Bharata. Knowledge of the field and its knower is considered by Me to be true knowledge.

O Arjuna! Know that the knower of the field, that is, the soul in all fields, is also Me, and the knowledge of the field and the knower of the field, that is, the knowledge of nature with its modifications and of the Purusha, is knowledge - that is My opinion. || 2 ||

What that field is, what its nature, what its modifications, whence it is, and what its effects, and also who He is and what His powers are, hear from Me in brief.

What that field is, what it is like, what its modifications are, and what it is caused by; and also who the knower of the field is and what his powers are - hear all that from Me in brief. || 3 ||

This has been sung by sages in many ways, in various distinctive Vedic meters, and also in the conclusive and reasoned words of the Brahma-sutra.

This essence of the field and the knower of the field has been said by the sages in many ways and has also been said separately by various Vedic mantras and has also been said by the well-defined logical Brahma Sutra verses. || 4 ||

The great elements, ego, intellect, and also the unmanifested; the ten senses and the one (mind), and the five objects of the senses;

The five great elements, ego, intellect and also the original nature, and the ten senses, one mind and the five objects of the senses, that is, sound, touch, form, taste and smell. ||5||

Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (the body), intelligence, and firmness; this field has been briefly described with its modifications.

And desire, hatred, happiness, sorrow, the aggregate of the gross body, consciousness and fortitude - in this way this field has been briefly described along with its modifications. || 6 ||

Humility, modesty, non-injury, forgiveness, uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control,

Absence of pride in excellence, absence of hypocrisy, not hurting any living being in any way, forgiveness, simplicity of mind and speech, service to the Guru with faith and devotion, external and internal purity, stability of the inner self and control of the body including the mind and senses. || 7 ||

Detachment towards sense objects, and also absence of egoism, constantly seeing the evil in birth, death, old age, disease and pain,

Absence of attachment to all pleasures of this world and the next, and also absence of egoism, repeatedly contemplating the evils of birth, death, old age and disease. || 8 ||

Non-attachment, non-identification with children, wife, home, etc., and constant equanimity on the attainment of the desirable and the undesirable,

Absence of attachment to son, wife, home and wealth etc., absence of possessiveness and always keeping the mind balanced in the attainment of the pleasant and the unpleasant. || 9 ||

Unwavering devotion to Me with single-mindedness, living in secluded places, distaste for the society of people,

Unwavering devotion to Me, the Supreme God, through single-minded yoga * and the habit of living in a secluded and pure place and not having love in the community of people attached to sensual pleasures. || 10 ||

Constancy in spiritual knowledge, seeing the object of true knowledge; this is declared to be knowledge, and what is contrary to this is ignorance.

Constancy in spiritual knowledge and seeing the Supreme Self as the meaning of true knowledge - all this is knowledge and what is contrary to this is said to be ignorance. || 11 ||

I shall describe that which has to be known, by knowing which one attains immortality. The beginningless Supreme Brahman is called neither being nor non-being.

I will tell you well what is worth knowing and by knowing which man attains supreme bliss. That beginningless Supreme Brahman is called neither being nor non-being. || 12 ||

With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists enveloping all in the world.

He has hands and feet everywhere, eyes, heads and mouths everywhere and ears everywhere. Because He is situated pervading everyone in the world. || 13 ||

Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without the senses; unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of qualities, yet the experiencer of them.

He knows the objects of all the senses, but is actually devoid of all the senses and, although detached, He sustains and nourishes everyone and, although devoid of qualities, He enjoys the qualities. || 14 ||

Without and within all beings, the unmoving and also the moving; because of His subtlety, He is incomprehensible; and He is ever near and far away.

He is perfect inside and outside all moving and non-moving beings and He is also moving and non-moving. And because He is subtle, He is incomprehensible and He is situated very near and far away. || 15 ||

Undivided, yet He exists as if divided in beings; He is to be known as the supporter of beings; He devours and He generates.

That Supreme Self, although indivisible, appears to be divided in all moving and non-moving beings like the sky, and that knowable Supreme Self sustains and nourishes the beings in the form of Vishnu and destroys them in the form of Rudra and creates everyone in the form of Brahma. || 16 ||

He is the Light even of lights, beyond darkness; He is said to be Knowledge, the Object of Knowledge, and the Goal of Knowledge, seated in the hearts of all.

That Supreme Brahman is said to be the light of lights and far beyond Maya. That Supreme Self is of the nature of consciousness, worth knowing and attainable through true knowledge and is especially situated in the hearts of all. || 17 ||

Thus the field, knowledge and the object of knowledge have been briefly stated. My devotee, knowing this, is fit to attain My Being.

In this way the nature of the field and knowledge and the knowable Supreme Self has been said in brief. My devotee, knowing this in essence, attains My nature. || 18 ||

Know that both Nature and the Soul are beginningless; and know that all modifications and qualities are born of Nature.

Know that both Nature and Purusha are beginningless and know that all modifications and trigunatmaka complete substances are produced from Nature only. || 19 ||

Nature is said to be the cause of the creation of the body and the senses; the Soul is said to be the cause of experiencing pleasure and pain.

Nature is said to be the cause of producing action and instruments and the soul is said to be the cause of experiencing happiness and sorrow, that is, of enjoyment. || 20 ||

The Soul seated in Nature experiences the qualities born of Nature; attachment to the qualities is the cause of Its birth in good and evil wombs.

The Purusha, situated in Nature, enjoys the trigunatmaka substances produced from Nature and the association of these qualities is the cause of the birth of this soul in good and bad wombs. || 21 ||

The Supreme Soul in this body is also called the Witness, the Permitter, the Supporter, the Experiencer, the Great Lord and the Supreme Self.

This soul situated in this body is actually the Supreme Self. He is called the Witness because He is the Witness, the Permitter because He is the giver of true consent, the Sustainer because He sustains and nourishes everyone, the Enjoyer as the living being, the Great Lord because He is the Lord of Brahma etc. and the Supreme Self because He is pure, blissful and dense. || 22 ||

He who thus knows the Soul and Nature with the qualities, in whatever condition he may be, he is not born again.

In this way, the man who knows the Purusha and Nature along with the qualities in essence, even while performing his duties in every way, is not born again. || 23 ||

Some perceive the Self in themselves through the mind purified by meditation; others through knowledge-yoga, and others through karma-yoga.

Some men see that Supreme Self in their hearts through meditation with a pure and subtle intellect; some through knowledge-yoga and others through karma-yoga, that is, they attain it. || 24 ||

Others, again, who do not know thus, worship, having heard from others; they too cross beyond death, devoted to what they have heard.

But others, that is, those men of dull intellect, who do not know in this way, worship according to what they hear from others, that is, from men who know the essence, and those men devoted to hearing also undoubtedly cross the ocean of the world in the form of death. || 25 ||

Whatever being is born, moving or unmoving, know that it is from the union of the field and the knower of the field, O best of the Bharatas.

O Arjuna! Know that all the moving and non-moving creatures that are born are born only from the union of the field and the knower of the field.

|| 26 ||

He who sees the Supreme Lord existing equally in all beings, imperishable in the perishable, he sees indeed.

The man who sees the Supreme Lord situated equally and without destruction in all moving and non-moving beings that are being destroyed, sees the truth. || 27 ||

Because he who sees the Lord existing equally everywhere does not injure the Self by the self, therefore he reaches the supreme goal.

Because the man who sees the Supreme Lord situated equally in everyone does not destroy himself by himself, he attains the supreme state. || 28 ||

He who sees that all actions are done in every way only by Nature, and likewise that the Self is not the doer, he sees indeed.

And the man who sees that all actions are done in every way only by Nature and sees the Self as the non-doer, sees the truth. || 29 ||

When he sees the separate existence of beings as rooted in the One, and their expansion from That, then he attains Brahman.

The moment this man sees the separate existence of beings situated in one Supreme Self and the expansion of all beings from that Supreme Self, he attains the dense, blissful Brahman at that very moment. || 30 ||

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

O Arjuna! Being beginningless and devoid of qualities, this imperishable Supreme Self, even though situated in the body, neither does anything nor is tainted. || 31 ||

As the all-pervading ether is not tainted because of its subtlety, so the Self, seated everywhere in the body, is not tainted.

Just as the all-pervading sky is not tainted because of its subtlety, similarly the Self, situated everywhere in the body, is not tainted by the qualities of the body because it is devoid of qualities. ||32||

As the one sun illumines this whole world, so the Self illumines the whole field, O Bharata.

O Arjuna! Just as one sun illuminates this entire universe, similarly one Self illuminates the entire field. || 33 ||

They who, through the eye of knowledge, know thus the difference between the field and its knower, and also the liberation from the Nature of beings, they go to the Supreme.

In this way, those great souls who know in essence the difference between the field and the knower of the field * and also the liberation from nature with its effects through the eyes of knowledge, attain the Supreme Brahman Supreme Self. || 34||

Om Tat Sat is the thirteenth chapter named Kshetrakshetrajnavibhaga-yoga in the Upanishads of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, in the Brahmavidya, in the Yogashastra, in the dialogue between Shri Krishna and Arjuna. || 13 ||