Bhagavatgita a detailed study chapter13.The field and the knower

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The

last topic, namely the discrimination between the Self and the Prkrthi was

elaborated in the slokas 26 to 30.

The

discourse on kshethra and kshethrajna is concluded with a definition and

description of the nature of Brahman in the following slokas.

 

31.anaadhithvaath nrguNathvaath paramaathmaa

ayam

avyayaH

 

SareerasTho api kountheya na karothi na lipyathe

 

 

The

SupremeSelf, who has no beginning, no guNas and who is immutable, dose not do

anything nor affected by any action even though He dwells

in the body.

 

32.yaThaa sarvagatham sokshmyaath aakaaSo

na upalipyathe

 

Sarvathra cha sThitho dhehe thaThaathmaa na upalipyathe

 

Just

as the sky is not contaminated by the things that are in it because of its

subtlety, so too the Self, though dwelling in the body , is not affected by

the actions of the body.

 

33. yaThaa prakaasayathi ekaH

krthsnam lokam imam raviH

 

Ksethram kshethree thaThaa krthsnam prakaaSayathi

Bhaaratha

 

Just

as the one Sun illumines the whole world, the Self, the kshethree or kshethrajna illumines the whole kshethra, the non-self.

 

 

The

supreme self , though dwelling in the body, is immutable, avyaya,, and beginningless. anaadhi.

Since it is without gunas, nirguNa,

it neither acts nor affected by the action. Krishna

gives two examples to illustrate how the self though dwelling in the body is

not affected by the actions of the body which are caused by the gunas.

 

1.

yaThaa sarvagatham soukshmyaath aakaaSam

nopalipythe'- The space is everywhere but being the subtlest it is not affected by the things that are in it and

connected with it. Similarly the Self is not affected by the body and its

actions.

 

2.yaTHaa

prakaaSayathi ekaH krthsnam lokam imam raviH- The Sun illuminates the whole

world. Similarly the Self illumines the whole field, that is, the body.

 

The

Lord who is the Self of all is the Sareeri or kshethrajna, as he says, kshethrajnam chaapi maam vidDhi

sarvakshethreshu, in sloka 2 of this chapter. The whole universe of the

sentient and the insentient is His

sareera or kshethra. This is according to the visishtadvaita doctrine.

According to advaita of course, the

world is an illusion and hence the Self which is identical to Brahman is not

affected by it.

 

Visishtadvaita concept is criticized by the opponents that

if the universe is the sareera of the Lord then he should be affected by the

modifications and the impurities of the sareera should adhere to Him. Ramanuja

answers in His Sribhashya that just as the self is not affected by the body and

its actions the Supreme Self is also not affected by its body which is the

universe. The examples given above illustrate this.

 

The

space is in everything and out of everything. But it is not contaminated by the

impurities or the modifications of the things in it. So too the Lord who is

inside and outside all beings is not affected by the impurities and the

modifications of the beings.

 

The

Sun even though He is seen only n one place and is one only, illuminates the

whole universe. So too, the Lord who is one only without a second and who is

the source of light of even the Sun pervades the whole world with His light by

which alone all actions are possible by all beings. But Just as the Sun is not

affected by the actions that happen in his light the Lord is not affected by

the actions of all beings.

 

34. kshethrakshethrajnyoH ethath

antharam

Jnaanachakshushaa

 

Bhoothaprakrthimoksham cha vidhuH yaanthi the param

 

 

Thus

knowing the difference between the kshethra and the kshethrajna through the

eyes of jnana, they who has the knowledge are freed from the bondage due to

prakrthi and its creations and attain moksha the supreme goal.

 

 

Thus

endowed with the knowledge of the Self, and the difference between the

non-self, kshethra and the knower, kshethrajna, one becomes free of bondage and

attaining the Supreme and the means of attainment is cultivation of the attributes like amanithvam

, adhambithvam etc. mentioned at the outset.