Bhagavatgita a detailed study chpter13 The field and the Knower

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Bhagavatgita a detailed study Chapter 13.-The field

and the knower

 

 

If

the Gita is divided into three parts of six adhyayas each, the first thrika,

consisting of adhayayas 1 to 6 deal with the nature of the Self, Brahman

synonymous with Narayana of the Visishtadvaita and the means of attaining it

through jnanayoga and karmayoga. The second thrika , adhyayas 7to12 outlines

the path of bhakthi yoga. through the knowledge of the

nature of the Lord, the supreme Self and the inner Self of all. Now in the last

part we find a detailed exposition of these topics propounded in the first two

parts.

 

 

In

this adhyaya titled kshethrakhethrajna yoga,

the differentiation of the known and the knower is explained. The topics

dealt with are,

1.dhehaathmanaH

svaroopam - The nature of body and

the self

2.dhehayaaThaathmya

Sodhanam- enquiry into the real

nature of the physical body.

3.dhehaviyukthaathmapraapthyupaayaH

- The means of attaining the Self

after leaving the body

4.viviktha

aathmasvroopa samSodhanam- The

nature of the Self in the disembodied state.

5. thaThA vidhasya

aathmanH achit sambandha hethuH-

Explanation of how and why does the Self

become associated with the body.

6.viviktha

anusandhaanaprakaaraH -The mode of

discriminating between the body and the self.

 

The discourse in this

adhyaya starts with the following words

of Krishna.

 

Sreebhagavan uvaacha

 

1. idham

Sareeram kountheya kshethram ithyabhidheeyathe

ethadhyO vEtthi tham praahuH kshEthrajnO

ithi thadhvidhaH

 

The physical body is

called the field, kshEthra and He who knows it, meaning the Self, is called the

knower, kshEthrajna., by those who know the real nature of the Self.

 

All

that is known including the physical body, mind and intellect are the kshethra

, field of experience because all these become the object of knowledge as in

"this is my body, my mind is upset, my intellect is not functioning

"etc. Apart from this, all the world

experienced by the senses and the mind also is the kshethra. This

naturally leads to the conclusion that there must be a knower who knows all

this, and that is the Self, kshethrajna.

 

The

individual self, however is the knower

in that particular embodiment through which he field of experience is

known and when the soul is separated from the body the experience of the world

does not exist anymore. But there is an eternal knower, says Krishna

in the next sloka.

 

2.kshethrajnam

chaapi maam viddhi sarvakshethrEshu

bhaaratha

kshethrakshethrajanyorjnaanam yath thath

jnaanam matham

mama

 

Know

Me as the knower of all fields. The real knowledge is that of the field and the

knower according to Me.

 

The

Lord says that he is the knower of all the fields and the true knowledge

consists of that about the field and the knower.

The

Lord is the knower in all the fields being the inner self of all. Those who

know this are the real knowers and this is the real knowledge.

 

In

BrhadhAraNyaka Upanishad it is said,'yah aathmani thishTan aathmanaH

antharaH yam aathmaa na vedha yasya aathmaa Sareeram yah aathmaanam antharo

yamayathi sa tha aathmaa antharyaamyamrthaH' (Brhd.3-7-22)

 

He who dwells in the individual self as its inner self, whom the individual

self does not know, to whom the individual self is the body, who controls the

individual self from within, He is your inner controller and immortal Self.'

Hence the real and ultimate knower is the Lord or Brahman. From the advaita

point of view also the real self is Brahman, and hence there is no discrepancy.

In the Gita itself it is said earlier 'ahamaathmA gudakesa sarvabhoothaaSayasThithaH.

I am the Self of all beings ,'(BG.10.20), 'nathadhasthi vinaa yathsyaath

mayaabhootham charaacharam, nothing that moves and does not move, exist

without me.'(BG.10-39)

 

Then

Krishna starts describing the field, kshethra

and the individual self, kshethrajna in detail. The distinction between the

body and the self has been laid out in the scriptures by vedic hymns and

Brahmasuthras through reasoning and reiterated by the sages, says Krishna to make it clear that this was not something of

his concoction.