Bhagavatgita a detailed study chapter13.The field and the knower

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17. jyothishaamapi thath jyothiH

thamasaH param uchyathe

 

Jnaanaam jneyam jnaanagamyam hrdhi sarvasya vishtitham

 

That

which is the light of all lights and

which is mentioned as being beyond darkness, is the knowledge, the object of

knowledge and the goal of knowledge and seated in the hearts of all.

 

A

light is that by which things become known because in the darkness nothing is

known. Brahman is the light that illuminates all other lights. thameva bhaantham anubhaathi sarvam thasya

bhaasaa sarvam idham vibhaathi, says the upanishat.(kata. 2.2.15), meaning,

all shine because He shines and they shine through His lustre. Hence He is thamasaH param, beyond darkness. The absence of light is darkness. There can

be no darkness in the Sun. Since Brahman is eternal there can be no absence of

its light. This is what is meant by thamasaH

param.

 

Brahman

is the knowledge, the object of knowledge and the goal of knowledge. In other

words, The Lord is the upaaya and upeya. He is jnanasvaroopa from whom all

knowledge emanates and hence He is the knowledge. He is the means of knowledge

and as well as the end because the true knowledge is the knowledge of Brahman

brahmajnana, and the means of attaining it is to contemplate on Him through

devotion. Hence He himself is the means, upaaya, of knowing, Him. The goal of knowledge ,

upeya, or that which is attained through knowledge is also Himself.

 

Hrdhi sarvasya vishtitham. The Lord is seated in the heart of all. The Lord

is the inner self of all and hence the knowledge arises from Him. "I am in the

heart of all," he says, sarvasyachaaham

hrdhi sannivishtaH Ch.15.15)

 

 

18.ithi kshethram thaThaa jnaanam

jneyam cha uktham

samaasathaH

 

madhbhakthaH ethath vijnaaya

madhbhaavaaya upapadhyathe

 

Thus

the field , likewise the knowledge, the object of knowledge are explained briefly.

My devotees knowing this, attain Me.

 

The

devotee here means the one who contemplates on the Supreme Self. Through

contemplation and by spiritual disciplines outlined earlier in the chapter he

gets the knowledge and attains the Lord.

 

Thus

the kshethra, knowledge and the object of knowledge all have been elucidated.

Next the last two topics set out in the beginning of the chapter, namely the cause of the association of the

Self with the non-self and the way of discriminating between the two are

explained.