अर्जुन उवाच

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च। एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव।।13.1।।

13.1 अर्जुन said! What I wish (इच्छामि) to know (वेदितुम्), O केशव! is this (एतद्),  प्रकृति and पुरुष, the क्षेत्र and क्षेत्रज्ञ, ज्ञानं and ज्ञेयं

श्री भगवानुवाच

इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते। एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः।।13.2।।

13.2 The भगवान् said – This body (इदं शरीरं), O कौन्तेय! is called (इति अभिधीयते) the क्षेत्रम्; he who (य:) knows this (तद् विद:) call (प्राहु:) the one (तं) who know this (एतद् वेत्ति) as (इति) क्षेत्रज्ञ.

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत। क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम।।13.3।।

13.3 In all the क्षेत्र, (सर्वक्षेत्रेषु अपि च) know (विद्धि) Me (मां) to be the only क्षेत्रज्ञ O भारत. The knowledge (ज्ञानं) which is (यद्) of the क्षेत्र and क्षेत्रज्ञ (क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयो:), in My view (मतं मम) to be ज्ञान.

13:1/3 (1) – श्लोक 13.1 is not supposedly part of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता; some say it is a later day interpolation. Be that as it may, it sets the context for what this chapter focusses on. The word क्षेत्र is translated as a field or a place of कर्म and भगवान् says that our own body may be taken as a क्षेत्र. And thus one who knows or is the operating principle of the क्षेत्र is a क्षेत्रज्ञ. A farmer does खेती in his क्षेत्र. While he may possess seeds, such seeds will turn into plants only when planted in a क्षेत्र. Similarly, owing to our कर्म, we take on life since for fruition of कर्मफल, we need a क्षेत्र and hence we take on a body (human or otherwise). Simply put,  just like we see the distinction between a farmer and his field, both क्षेत्र and its owner (viz the real us) are different.

13:1/3 (2) – And then भगवान् drops a bombshell by saying that in all the क्षेत्र, He alone is the क्षेत्रज्ञ. IN ALL BEINGS.  AND EVEN NON-BEINGS. He is everywhere; He as the most fundamental particle of the Universe is everywhere. And He alone is the life principle in ALL – there is no other. And thus only that one may be said to possess ज्ञान who knows both क्षेत्र and क्षेत्रज्ञ. If one is able to distinguish between these two at all times not just as theory but as a day to day experience, that one is a ज्ञानी.  This is the highest and only ज्ञान to know which is the purpose of our lives; rest all ज्ञान is merely an enabler for survival which are pursued as per our गुण orientation. Long commentaries by many have been written on this verse alone for many centuries.

13:1/3 (3) – Matter somehow became life is our recent idea about ourselves. Chemicals are inactive matter and somehow, via an accident, life happened. And we are trying to figure this out through research. वेदान्त however conceived this otherwise. Life cannot happen accidentally just like plants do not happen automatically. They is a purpose, there is an intent, say in the mind of the farmer, and this intent materializes in the form of a fully abundant farm.  LIFE similarly did सङ्कल्प of taking on a body and hence क्षेत्र happened as an outcome. It is life which decides to be born, live and withdraw – matter merely obeys the intent expressed by Life – that is the idea here.

तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक् च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत्। स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे श्रृणु।।13.4।।

13.4 What is that (यद् तद्) क्षेत्र, what is its appearance (यादृक् च) having what modifications (यद् विकारि च)? From what does it arise (यत: च यद्)? And what (य: च) is that (source viz Me) (स:) and what glories is it having (यत्-प्रभाव: च), that, in brief (तद् समासेन), listen from Me (मे श्रृणु).

ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधैः पृथक्। ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्चितैः।।13.5।।

13.5 Seers (ऋषिभि:) have sung (गीतं) in many ways (बहुधा), in various distinctive (विविधैः पृथक्) chants (छन्दोभि:) and also in the suggestive words indicative of the ब्रह्म (ब्रह्मसूत्रपदै: च इव), full of logic (हेतुमद्भि:) and which are well ascertained (विनिश्चितैः).

13:4/5 (1) – 13:4 defines the scope of this chapter that we will be pursuing over the next few days. भगवान् says clearly that many ऋषि have talked about what क्षेत्र & क्षेत्रज्ञ stand for. ब्रह्मसूत्रपदै may be taken to mean ब्रह्मसूत्र or even उपनिषद् where logical and well ascertained statements have been made concerning ब्रह्मज्ञान. Any person wanting to be called as an intellectual has to have read or imbibed the ब्रह्मसू्त्र; if not read, he has not understood सनातन धर्म. But this is an extremely difficult text to understand.

13:4/5 (2) – And thus भगवान् is again reiterating that what he is stating is not something new or unique but merely repeating what many wise people before Him have already stated. On matters of ब्रह्मज्ञान, there is nothing unique or new to be discovered. Whichever way ज्ञान is pursued, it will reach the conclusions that have already been conveyed in the उपनिषद् – that is the idea here. And frankly, if भगवान् would have said that His wisdom is His unique ज्ञान, even He would have had no credibility – this is been the idea in भारत for a very long time 😊. We may show creativity in the path followed to gain ब्रह्म state but the ultimate state is as conveyed by the वेद already.

महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च। इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः।।13.6।।

13.6 The great elements (महाभूतान्), the अहङ्कार:, the बुद्धि:, the व्यक्तम्, the ten senses (इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं) and the one (viz मन:), besides, the five objects of the senses (पञ्च च इन्द्रिय-गोचराः);

13:6 (1) – क्षेत्र, also known as माया, प्रकृति,  अपरा (used in chapter seven) is inert just like a bulb or a robotic toy.  क्षेत्र has individual components just like a bulb has a filament, glass shell, etc or a robot has body parts, battery holder, etc. If one understands the specific parts of bulb or robot, one can discern how a bulb or a robot behaves when activated.  Just like a bulb is activated by electricity and a robot by a battery, the क्षेत्र is activated by क्षेत्रज्ञ. क्षेत्र has twenty four categories also known as सांख्य तत्व. Thus, our body as क्षेत्र also has these twenty four categories and even the whole visible universe can be understood in terms of these twenty four categories. twenty four तत्व may be seen in a similar manner as 108 elements in our periodic table and have been used in Indian texts to make sense of this Universe as well as ourselves. Without knowing these, no one can make sense of stories/ claims within the Indian texts. These are:

13:6 (2) – 1) व्यक्तम् – (also known as मूलप्रकृति), you may call this as undifferentiated matter or condensed matter in a potential form for projecting itself.

2) अहङ्कार: – the presence of an idea of “I” meaning a self-identity. This again at the Universal level is called as ईश्वर and at an individual level as जीव.

3) बुद्धि: – at an individual level, this is intellect and called as महत् at a Universal level. Just like a CPU within a robot makes it talk, sing, dance,  etc., बुद्धि stores data from previous experiences thus giving us the ability to make decisions gained from previously stored events.

4) महाभूतान् or 5 pure undifferentiated elements viz space, air,  fire,  water and solidity/ Earth. Note that these are not the fire, water, etc that we are familiar with but their purer versions. These pure versions actually mixed together in a certain proportion by a process known as  पञ्चीकरण to turn into the gross air,  fire,  etc that we are familiar with. All 108+ elements may thus be taken as sub-parts of these पञ्चभूत only.

13:6 (3) – 5) Ten senses – five पञ्च ज्ञानेन्द्रिय viz eyes,  ears,  nose,  tongue and skin and five पञ्च कर्मेन्द्रिय viz hands, legs, mouth, genitals and excretory organs. Do note that these need to be seen not as physical organs but representing principles like legs signifying locomotion, hands signifying grasping, genitals representing reproduction, ears signifying sound, etc. These are relevant again both at a Universal level as well as at an individual.

6) मन – principle of mind. Just like filament in a bulb makes it glow, mind has the ability to receive the trigger from क्षेत्रज्ञ and get capacity to think or cognize. Just like a filament, on its own, the mind is also inert.

7) Five objects of the senses – Each sense object has its counterpart. Thus, forms exist for eyes to see, directions exist for sound to pass through,  etc. These are शब्द, स्पर्श, रस , रूप & गंध. If these counterparts do not exist, presence of senses do not make any sense. Both sides are thus closely interlinked.

इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतनाधृतिः। एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम्।।13.7।।

13.7 Desire (इच्छा), aversion (द्वेषः), pleasure (सुखं), pain (दुःखं), the aggregate (the body) (सङ्घात:), cognition (चेतना), resolve (धृतिः), this is in brief (समासेन) called (उदाहृतम्) the क्षेत्र (एतद् क्षेत्रं) along with its modifications (सविकारम्).

13:7 (1) – Now that the components of क्षेत्र have been described,  what are the विकार: or modifications of these 24 तत्व of क्षेत्र? In our case, if the presence of क्षेत्रज्ञ is not discerned by the क्षेत्र, then these 24 तत्व makes our क्षेत्र impute a distinct individuality to itself. By default then, the first two modifications of इच्छा & द्वेषः arise within us. इच्छा & द्वेषः operate at a subtle level as a fundamental driver of all our actions. If we get outcomes as per our इच्छा, सुखं happens and if outcomes do not go our way, दुःखं happens. Reverse is the case with द्वेषः

13:7 (2) – Interestingly, our body as क्षेत्र may be taken as an artificial compound where disparate aspects come together just like weeds, fences,  scarecrow, etc come together in a field for growth of crops to happen. Fire present within us is an enemy of water since rush of water extinguishes fire. Similarly, rush of air extinguishes fire.  All these are actually विरोधी of one another but still they come together and collectively make an experience possible.  So who or what brings these seeming enemies to work together within a single क्षेत्र in an aggregated manner? It is धृति or resolve.

13:7 (3) – So what is धृति? धृति may be taken as the continuing drive within the जीव to add value to its own life based on इच्छा & द्वेष present within its individual persona. The continuing resolve to meet our needs, fulfill our wants, keep driving for making life better comes from धृति. My personal sense is that what we call as free will operates at the level of धृति.  While there is nothing wrong with this continuing drive to keep looking for sources to fulfill our needs, the starting point being faulty viz that we have given a false sense of individuality to ourselves that is considered distinct from the Universe, 

धृति drives actions that are self-serving thus increasing its difficulty in perceiving the truth of क्षेत्रज्ञ.

13:7(4) – Then we have interesting word used here viz cognition or चेतना. Using बुद्धि, we are able to decide and mind helps us cognize environment around us. Is this consciousness? The ability of मन & बुद्धि to cognize is not their own. Just like Sun falls on a mirror which in turn can be directed towards a dark place to light it up, मन & बुद्धि derive their ability to cognize from a deeper source. Moon shines but the shine of the moon is not its own but that of light borrowed from the Sun. On its own, our मन is not sentient just like without electricity, the filament in a bulb cannot glow. But because the mind is coloured by the myriad of इच्छा present in the जीव, the borrowed light from क्षेत्रज्ञ gets dented and what the mind actually sees are dented perceptions thus seeing the world from its own prejudices. Therefore, though we have मन & बुद्धि, they become faulty instruments to perceive the Universe as-it-is. Therefore, freedom eludes us. But if we are able to cleanse ourselves from the subtle presence of इच्छा & द्वेष, our instruments become pure and our vision becomes capable of cognizing Truth.

13:7 (5) – ज्ञानेश्वर uses the following to describe चेतना. Essentially, क्षेत्रज्ञ pervades the body standing aloof from it as a साक्षी. A portion of it which verily pervades alike both inanimate and animate creation is called चेतना. A king may not be acquainted with his army; yet his word of command brings about the destruction of the army; or the sea gets in full tide at the appearance of the moon or proximity to a magnet imparts motion to iron.  In this way, association of the body with the आत्मा creates life in inanimate things and this is what is called sentiency.

अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम्। आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः।।13.8।।

13.8 Absence of concept (not wanting others to know one’s virtues (अमानित्वम्), absence of hypocrisy (not wanting others to know virtues one does not possess) (अदम्भित्वम्), अहिंसा, accommodation (patience & understanding) (क्षान्ति:), straight-forwardness (आर्जवम्), service of the teacher (आचार्य उपासनं), cleanliness (शौचं), steadfastness (स्थैर्यम्), self-discipline (आत्म-विनिग्रहः).

13:8 (1) – Now that क्षेत्र and its विकार have been explained, we are being given a list of twenty virtues to cultivate. These are referred to as ज्ञान meaning that knowing and living these virtues is akin to ज्ञान and one who lives these is called as ज्ञानी. Learning and living by these form the core or essence of अध्यात्म विद्या. Any other type of trait may give us access to a विद्या that may be essential to sustain our survival but not necessarily be useful from an अध्यात्म विद्या lens. Today, we will take up nine attributes found in this verse word by word.

13:8(2): 

1. अमानित्वम् – absence of any idea of mine. मान means mine but one who has अमानित्वम् has no sense of mine over anything in the world. मान is the most subtle substance and represents the root of our misery. An officer working for fifty years in an office uses table & chair but when he retires, he happily leaves them in office even though he took good care of these in all the years he was working. Same goes for one who has अमानित्वम् vis a vis people or objects of this world. He works with them as part of his धर्म but does not get struck with them.
2. अदम्भित्वम् – absence of pride. मान, referred to earlier, if deepened graduates into pride/ arrogance. रावण is a प्रतीक of दम्भ and despite possessing superior intellect, he regressed.
3. अहिंसा – When pride intensifies, one resorts to हिंसा if one does not obtain what one needs. Such हिंसा may be done through मनसा, वाचा or क्रिया. On the other hand, one who does not possess ego or pride remains in an अहिंसा mode all the time. If श्रीकृष्ण is eulogising अहिंसा, why is He pushing अर्जुन towards हिंसा? Answer is – श्रीकृष्ण is goading अर्जुन towards धर्म and when one does धर्म, one is practicing अहिंसा only.  This is a long topic but I will leave it at that here.

13:8 (3) – The meaning of क्षान्ति: viz accommodative attitude will obviouly follow one who is established in अहिंसा. Next is आर्जवम् viz being straight forward or living without a lowly agenda. What is inside is outside and vice versa for such people. There are no hidden agenda for such people and their thinking therefore is focussed and transparent, even to themselves, rather than convoluted or warped.

13:8 (4) – आचार्य उपासनं meaning service of teachers. गुरू-शिष्य परंपरा is a hollowed tradition in India since millennia. The reason is obvious – अध्यात्म ज्ञान is a very subtle विद्या and one can thus learn this only from someone who is either a ज्ञानी or one who has spent longer years doing साधना and thus can share his experiences which can benefit the student. Self-learning is perceived as much more difficult in this discipline. If one does not have access to गुरू, one may look at the Universe with a keen insight on the lines of 24 गुरू of श्री दत्तात्रेय (you can find this on the blog or on Google).

13:8 (5) – शौचं means both बाह्य & आंतरिक cleanliness and the meaning is self-evident. स्थैर्यम् means one who is focussed having a स्थिर बुद्धि. If we take up a certain course of action, we remain focussed fully on it and do not stop midway or get distracted or give justifications to move away from chosen path. If we show this attitude for small things too, we can extend this to आध्यात्म विद्या too. Last in this verse is self-discipline viz आत्म-विनिग्रहः. Here self-control means ability to have control over operation of one’s own senses and one is not in control of them, one can forget to achieve even material goals what to say of अध्यात्म goals.

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च। जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधि दुःखदोषानुदर्शनम्।।13.9।।

13.9 Indifference to the objects of the senses (इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यम्) and also absence of arrogance (अनहङ्कार एव च); perception of (अनुदर्शनम्) problem (दोष) of sorrow (दुःख) in birth-death (जन्ममृत्यु), old age-disease (जरा व्याधि).

13:9 (1) – 1) इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यम् means one is indifferent to the attractions or pulls of sense objects. One eats but to satisfy hunger, one earns but accepts money as an outcome of work done, one enjoys scenery or a good movie but does not stay in it even after the event is over.

2) There is a story of two ब्रह्मचारी waiting to cross an overflowing river when a girl approaches them seeking their help to cross the river. One of them refuses immediately aware of the instructions of his गुरू not to touch a girl while the other helps the girl by putting her on his shoulders and crosses over. The other is upset, keeps on staring at this guy all the time they were walking back towards the Ashram. After a while, he asks how the other felt having a girl in close contact with him but the other merely smiles. Once both reach the Ashram, the angry man complains to the गुरू. The गुरू looks at both of them, smiles and replies that while the one who lifted the girl has moved on from the incident, the angry disciple is still holding on to the thought about the girl and her contact with the fellow disciple. Message is – Act and move on.

13:9 (2) – 2) अनहङ्कार एव च – Absence of अहङ्कार means absence of the idea of “I”. Thinking always that “I am doing” or “I am working” or “I am smart” or “I am dumb” means to live in a state of self-obsession. Whatever is in क्षेत्र is not our “I” but we make this mistake and thus suffer. रामकृष्ण परमहंस used to refer to himself as “this” pointing to his body whenever he was referring to himself as not as “I” or “me”.

13:9 (3) – 3) जन्म मृत्यु जरा व्याधि दुःख-दोष अनुदर्शनम् – One must always continually view birth, death, old age or illness as a cause of sorrow. If one is not sufficiently repulsed by the thought that I have to go through these on account of being born, one will not be able to be convinced of the need to get out of this cycle. This is not to be seen as a negative attitude but more of recognizing the limitations of life obsessed with body orientation and thus getting inspired by people who are able to get out of it. We often see people in deep sickness express a desire to die rather than continue living with sickness or a वैराग्य mode after visiting a funeral. However, this mood goes away once the scene changes and one is back from the mood of श्मशान वैराग्य (viz temporary) to the usual obsessions of the body/mind.

असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु। नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु।।13.10।।

13.10 Absence of ownership (असक्ति), non-identification (अनभिष्वङ्गः) with son (i.e. offspring पुत्र), wife (i.e. spouse दार), home and the rest (गृह आदि-षु), and continual equanimity of mind (सम-चित्तत्वम्) towards attainment of (उपपत्तिषु च) the desirable and the undesirable (इष्ट-अनिष्ट:).

मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी। विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि।।13.11।।

13.11 Unswerving (अव्यभिचारिणी) भक्ति unto Me (मयि) through a योग (vision of identity/ समाधि) in which there is no another (अनन्ययोगेन च), disposition to repair to (सेवित्वम्) a quiet place (विविक्त-देश), not longing for (अरति:) the company of people (जनसंसदि).

13:10/11 (1) – 1) असक्ति meaning complete absence of longing for or attachment towards anyone or anything belonging to the world. While one can and must engage with the world with joy and love, one must not long for it and get disturbed in their absence or get too excited in their presence.

2) अनभिष्वङ्ग: means non-identification towards kids, spouse, home, etc. One lives these relationships with full धर्म and with joy but does not define their identity as father of someone or wife/husband of someone. One just lives in a house but living does not make the house as mine just like living in a hotel does not make it mine. My identity does not depend on where I stay or whom I am related to. These relationships were not there when I was born and will cease after their time gets exhausted; these are no different from the relationships we strike in a train journey; they are wonderful relationships while the journey lasts but we know all through the journey that this will come to an end. Maybe this is why we enjoy train relationships much better than those that are perceived to last.

13:10/11 (2) – 1) To maintain equanimity of mind viz सम-चित्तत्वम् on a continual basis towards attainment of इष्ट & अनिष्ट, desirable and undesirable. Pursue धर्म at all times and let the mind not fall prey to attractions towards इष्ट and prejudice towards अनिष्ट.

2) Continual focus or भक्ति unto भगवान् – nothing else excites him. We discussed the idea of अनन्ययोग earlier in Ch 9.  Whatever such a person may be doing externally, such a person is FULL-TIME focussed on Him only at all times. This also means that whether a person pursues ज्ञान योग or कर्म योग or ध्यान योग, भक्ति is an essential ingredient in all of them. A ज्ञानी with no भक्ति is useless since that will be akin to पुस्तक ज्ञान only.

13:10/11 (3) – 3) Disposition to repair to (सेवित्वम्) a quiet place (विविक्त-देश). Avoid public except when needed. An ideal life is one which sensibly shuttles between प्रवृति viz action orientation towards fulfilment of धर्म and निवृति viz retiring from society for ध्यान and विचार. For a अज्ञान साधक, too much of प्रवृति will lead to disease/ decay while too much of निवृति will promote तमस्/ depression. Balance is thus key here.

4) Not longing for (अरति:) the company of people (जनसंसदि). It does not mean that he hates people. He in fact sees all others too as Himself only but avoids people who are divisive or do not dwell on परब्रह्म. Such company does not add value or in fact could lead him astray and he therefore stays away from such people. Cultivation of सत्संग is key for acquiring ज्ञान.

The following verses are tough and putting together a commentary is a struggle. These are the verses which have led to multiple disciplines like अद्वैत, विशिष्ट अद्वैत, सांख्य, etc to have come about in India since multiple interpretations are possible. 

अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम्। एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोन्यथा।।13.12।।

13.12 Being always centered on the knowledge of I (अध्यात्मज्ञान-नित्यत्वं), seeing the goal of knowledge of the Truth (goal being complete freedom) (तत्त्वज्ञान अर्थ दर्शनम्)- this is (एतद्) declared to be (इति प्रोक्तम्) ज्ञान, and what is (यद्) contrary to it (अत: अन्यथा) is अज्ञान (meaning obstacle to ज्ञान).

13:12 (1) – 1) अध्यात्मज्ञान-नित्यत्वं means that one is always focussed on अध्यात्मज्ञान. He reads, talks, thinks, works, evaluates everything from the prism of अध्यात्मज्ञान. Nothing else appeals to such a person. When one reads the शास्त्र, one reads about various कर्म, both नित्यकर्म  & नैमित्तिक कर्म mandated for people from all walks of life. These include नित्य संध्यावंदन, नित्य अध्ययन of शास्त्र, पूजा during festivals, periodic visit to तीर्थ स्थल, etc. The idea is to be in touch with अध्यात्म  क्रिया continually so that one is close of acts that trigger अध्यात्म विद्या.  One is expected to do this not out of fear or for a happy marriage or well-being of kids but to be in constant touch with अध्यात्म ideas conveyed in the शास्त्र. First do these as a cultural practice but slowly as experience of life grows, these become our आलंबन (support) for अध्यात्म वृद्धि and over time, such practices become our स्वरूप भाव meaning our naturally inclined self-expressions. If these are not done, there is a greater probability that one MAY get carried away by the लौकिक आकर्षण and the opportunity obtained by one born as a मनुष्य is lost – one has to start over again after many lives.

UB: 13:12 (2) – 2) तत्त्वज्ञान अर्थ दर्शनम् means his only लक्ष्य of life is तत्त्वज्ञान. And what is the लक्ष्य of तत्त्वज्ञान? मुक्ति or कैवल्य or मोक्ष. All pursuit of life is geared towards this लक्ष्य. There is none other. This is not meant to be a past-time or an academic pursuit done to kill boredom during old age or an intellectual pursuit to argue with others 😊. This is a life-long obsession and every act of mine, every conversation I make, every statement I utter, every smile I give,  every slap I take, every book I read, etc., is geared towards one goal only – to attain मुक्ति. However, if this clarity of perspective is absent, even if one takes on these attributes visibly to outside world or to fool ourselves, these will be wasted efforts only. लक्ष्य drives the कर्म and कर्म without लक्ष्य is akin to moving boulders up & down the mountain daily – it is hard labour, intense activity, seemingly disciplined but has no value at all.

13:12 (3) – भगवान् makes the point that whosoever works on these 20 attributes is pursuing ज्ञान. Whosoever is pursuing anything else is not pursuing ज्ञान – he or she is just living an animal life which is a life merely meant for survival or sensual pleasure. Thus, the opposite of every word discussed thus far represents living in अज्ञान.   People living in अज्ञान can never hope to know about क्षेत्रज्ञ. They will experience happiness or misery as the situations bring to their life but are unable to cross the wall of अज्ञान since the qualities required for अध्यात्मज्ञान are absent in them.

ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुते। अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते।।13.13।।

13.13 I shall declare (तद् प्रवक्ष्यामि) what is to be known (यद् ज्ञेयं), knowing which (यद् ज्ञात्वा) one attains (अश्नुते) the immortal self (अमृतम्). That (तद्) is beginningless (अनादिमत्) and the Highest ब्रह्म (परं ब्रह्म); said to be (उच्यते) neither that is (न सत्) nor is not (न असत्).

सर्वतः पाणिपादं तत्सर्वतोऽक्षिशिरोमुखम्। सर्वतः श्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठति।।13.14।।

13.14 Everywhere are Its hands and feet (सर्वतः पाणिपादं); Its eyes, heads and mouths (अक्षि-शिरो-मुखम्) are everywhere (सर्वतस्); Its ears are everywhere (सर्वतः श्रुतिमन्) in the लोक; and It exists (तिष्ठति) pervading all things (सर्वम् आवृत्य ).

सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम्। असक्तं सर्वभृच्चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च।।13.15।।

13.15 It appears as the attributes (गुण आभासं) of all the senses (सर्व इंद्रिय), and yet devoid of (विवर्जितम्) the senses (सर्व इंद्रिय), detached (असक्तं) and yet sustains all (सर्वभृत् एव च), free from the गुण (निर्गुणं) and yet experiencing the गुण (गुण भोक्तृ च);

13:13/15 (1) – Now that we have dealt with क्षेत्र & ज्ञान, we now deal with ज्ञेयं (what needs to be known) viz क्षेत्रज्ञ, the real core of Truth and the real topic of the उपनिषद्. This क्षेत्रज्ञ is अनादि. Once you know क्षेत्रज्ञ, you become अमृतं or eternal. Knowing here does not mean knowing as “information” but to ensure that the ज्ञान becomes our अनुभव. This क्षेत्रज्ञ is neither सत् nor असत्. What does this mean? Everything in the Universe exists – thus Universe and its constituent parts are सत्. On the other hand, one will not find a human with horns; hence a human with horns does not exist and thus is असत्. So भगवान् is neither सत् nor असत् – how is this possible? He does not exist in the way Universe exists. Everything in the Universe can be perceived by the senses or through inference (like a black hole which one cannot see but its presence can be inferred). भगवान् is not सत् in the manner of the Universe as we perceive it. Does it mean that भगवान् is असत्?  Again the answer is NO since the whole universe and experiential realm exists because of भगवान्. Hence the भगवान् is not असत् too. सत् & असत् are also explained as cause and effect and He is neither to be seen as cause nor as an effect – long logic is used to explain this but I will skip this for now. One can however sense that उपनिषद् does not see consciousness or क्षेत्रज्ञ as coming from matter since it is ruled out as being an effect and it is अनादि.

13:13/15 (2) – भगवान् is present everywhere and this is figuratively given as भगवान् having hands, eyes, ears, etc everywhere. Similarly, when we witness the Universe, we see form, we see colours, we see sounds, we see movement, etc. Thus, since भगवान् is everywhere, we can logically infer that भगवान् has form, भगवान् has movement,  etc. However, the verses state that भगवान् is pervading everything just like space pervades everything. Thus, whatever we see as form, sounds, hands,  legs,  etc, क्षेत्रज्ञ pervades it too.

13:13/15 (3) – We act through the senses and since क्षेत्रज्ञ is within us, can we say that क्षेत्रज्ञ has senses?  No – since क्षेत्रज्ञ is devoid of senses. क्षेत्रज्ञ is an असक्त meaning that it does not get associated with anything but owing to its presence, the क्षेत्र is activated to act and do things. It also appears as if it is experiencing all emotions, feelings, etc but on its own, गुण does not belong to क्षेत्रज्ञ. A lotus remains a bud but blooms majestically when the Sun comes out. While the Sun may be seen as cause of blooming of lotus, the Sun did not rise to bloom the lotus – the Sun came as per its धर्म while the lotus bloom happened since this is dependent on क्षेत्रज्ञ.  क्षेत्रज्ञ is असक्त: just like the Sun in the above example represents an असक्त trait. These seem like puzzling verses but the verses ahead will clarify how to appreciate the ideas given here.

बहिरन्तश्च भूतानामचरं चरमेव च। सूक्ष्मत्वात्तदविज्ञेयं दूरस्थं चान्तिके च तत्।।13.16।।

13.16 It is outside (बहि:) and inside (अन्त: च) all beings (भूतानाम्); is whatever moves (चरम्) or does not move (अचरं एव च). It is subtle (सूक्ष्मत्वात्), it is (तद्) thus not knowable (अविज्ञेयं). It is (तद्) also (च) far away (दूरस्थं), and yet near (अन्तिके च).

अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम्। भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च।।13.17।।

13.17 It remains (स्थितम्) undivided (अविभक्तं) and yet seemingly (इव च) divided (विभक्तम्) among beings(भूतेषु), this is the one (तद् ज्ञेयं) who sustains beings (भूतभर्तृ) and is their devourer (ग्रसिष्णु) and creator (प्रभविष्णु च).

13:16/17 (1) – This क्षेत्रज्ञ is everywhere; both outside and inside just like electricity is both outside the bulb and inside. This क्षेत्रज्ञ is present in non-moving like trees as well as moving like animals and humans. This क्षेत्रज्ञ is both far and near in the sense that viewed from a स्थूल दृष्टि, भगवान् is far away but viewed from सूक्ष्म दृष्टि, She is very near to you. So why is She unknown? All one needs is to develop a दृष्टि to see It. It is सूक्ष्मत्वात्, it is subtle and till the mind is made subtle too, It remains unknown. As स्वामि कृष्णानन्द says, our लौकिक दृष्टि is upside down that is more used to seeing gross than subtle and unless this habitual orientation is addressed, we will remain beings living with a स्थूल दृष्टि.

13:16/17 (2) – क्षेत्रज्ञ appears as divided among all but in reality, It is not so. Our hands do certain kind of acts, our legs do certain other kind of acts and while they seem divided, there is a single mind that operates all these parts. Taking this idea further, क्षेत्रज्ञ operates among all beings simultaneously and only seemingly appears as divided like electricity appears as divided among the fan, lamp, etc in a room. It is one reality that operates within all simultaneously. The possibility that this दृष्टि offers is enormous. If we are able to tap into this channel of inter-connectivity, the idea that one can know the thoughts and ideas of another does not appear exotic (at least in theory). Distance is an irrelevant factor since all we need is to connect to this “neural Wi-Fi” that all the bodies tap into.

13:16/17 (3) – It creates, It sustains and It devours. The ब्रह्म-विष्णु-रुद्र तत्व that operate at the Universal level also operate within us. As they say, we are not born of our own accord nor do we exit out of our own. It is the क्षेत्रज्ञ that is the one in whose presence all these happen just like the presence of the Sun ensures that a seed planted in the soil becomes a plant, life of a plant is sustained by the Sun and eventually the plant merges into the soil owing to the Sun itself. Looking at the Universe from the point of क्षेत्रज्ञ, we get a unique vision where we can see that क्षेत्रज्ञ in plants sustain life but क्षेत्रज्ञ in animals or humans devours itself as present in plants. Thus, क्षेत्रज्ञ present within food makes it possible for life to sustain life within other forms. We can thus see that क्षेत्रज्ञ creates life, sustains life as well as devours Itself – or does It? 😊😊

13:16/17 (4) – Is the Sun outside a क्षेत्र (field) or is the क्षेत्र inside the Sun? Looking at it one way, Sun seems outside the क्षेत्र but is the Sun really outside? Where does the boundary of Sun end and Sunrays begin? If we define Sun by the entire area till which place its sphere of influence exists, Sun in that case includes our entire solar system. If Sun is really outside, how can any “outside” entity sustain life in others like plants or humans? Clearly, our Sun has “something” and the plants also have “something” and both these “something’s’ connect with one another. So is this “something” different in both of them? Looking deeply, one does have to reach a conclusion that Sun is both outside as well as inside.

13:16/ 17 (5) – But while the Sun is स्वतन्त्र, क्षेत्र is dependent or अस्वतन्त्र. While Sun can live on its own, a क्षेत्र cannot. Take this further (sorry Priya for use of low medical-iteracy भाषा😊), does our heart beat on account of life within us or is the presence of life within us making our heart beat continuously? If we thus take our human body as क्षेत्र, is there a Sun-like principle that brings all diverse parts with diverse functions like heart, intestines, brain, veins, etc to work together in close coordination? As per वेद, it is in the presence of a क्षेत्रज्ञ that all this burst of activity happens within all क्षेत्र in such an integrated manner.

13:16/17 (6) – This part is my personal mind-flight 😊. Let us do a take on accidents with this दृष्टि – Can we say that if a person walking on the road gets hit by a car whose driver dozed off at that moment, is it the क्षेत्रज्ञ in one that triggered क्षेत्रज्ञ within another to make the accident possible? 😊😊😊 Who decides? Why does that “who” decide? Or does no one decide and the धर्म of both bodies at a certain time make so-called accidents happen? Better to pause this line of thought 😊😊😊

ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमसः परमुच्यते। ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं ज्ञानगम्यं हृदि सर्वस्य विष्ठितम्।।13.18।।

13.18. It (तद्) is the Light even (अपि ज्योति:) of [all] the lights (ज्योतिषाम्), [and] is stated to be (उच्यते) beyond darkness (तमसः परम्) ; It is ज्ञान, ज्ञेय and the result to be attained by ज्ञान (ज्ञान-गम्यं); and It abides (विष्ठितम्) in the centre of everything (हृदि सर्वस्य).

इति क्षेत्रं तथा ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं चोक्तं समासतः। मद्भक्त एतद्विज्ञाय मद्भावायोपपद्यते।।13.19।।

13.19. Thus (इति) the क्षेत्रं, ज्ञानं and (तथा) ज्ञेयं have been briefly told (च उक्तं समासतः) clearly knowing this (एतद् विज्ञाय), My devotee (मद् भक्त) is fit (उपपद्यते) for My nature (मद् भावाय).

13:18/19 (1) – Two seemingly contrary ideas are given here – क्षेत्रज्ञ is the Light of all lights and क्षेत्रज्ञ is beyond darkness. In our normal sensory अनुभव, light & darkness are opposites of each other. If one does not know one, one cannot know another. A blind man does not know light (in the way others experience light) since every अनुभव is experienced through darkness – but will he call his vision or experience of life as darkness? क्षेत्रज्ञ is thus an idea beyond light and dark since अनुभव has no colour. If we are to thus conceive क्षेत्रज्ञ, we are compelled to go beyond the dualities of light and darkness and conceive of a state beyond these two. Later in chapter fifteen, we will come across the famous मंत्र – न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्र तारकम् which some of you may be familiar with. How can we conceive of such a state? I have no immediate answer for this but this is where साधना or तपस्या becomes necessary. If everything becomes known easily without साधना, why will we call this wisdom as ब्रह्मविद्या? Of course, one may say – is this wisdom? 😊

13:18/19 (2) – Take any being. All beings have a sense that they are at the centre of everything. A lowly ant views the world from its perspective and every human being also experiences life from his own perspective. Every being sees events happening around itself while sitting in the centre viewing the world. Even though I know through simple तर्क that two or multiple centres are not possible, I still end up viewing the world as if I am in the centre of everything. How is this possible? This happens owing to a peculiar mistake – we mistake the body to be the “I” and this body thus feels that it is in the centre. So how do I expand my idea of centre beyond my body? Simple – the day I start seeing the world from another’s दृष्टि, I expand. This means we make another’s centre too as our center and then experience the world. Thus, marriage, having kids, forming social groups, etc have an अध्यात्म utility value since we end up facing situations where we are forced to look at the दृष्टि of another. Do we need to develop compassion to see from the दृष्टिकोण of another? No it is the other way around -if we make the centre of another as our centre, कृपा pours itself out as a natural outcome. Be compassionate then no longer remains prescription of a text but a living reality.

13:18/19 (3) – हृदि सर्वस्य विष्ठितम् is thus a key line that applies to क्षेत्रज्ञ. It is at the center of everything. Because It is at the center of all, all beings feel that they are in the centre of all अनुभव. This centered-ness is a स्वाभाविक अनुभव for all and does not have to be taught by any religion or a teacher – the day a baby becomes conscious, the baby experiences this centering. Why?  Because it is actually the presence of क्षेत्रज्ञ present in all that brings out this अनुभव. Lastly, in a peculiar manner of expression, क्षेत्रज्ञ is the ज्ञान using which one can know (instrumental cause), what one needs to know is also the क्षेत्रज्ञ and what goal one reaches on destination is also क्षेत्रज्ञ. Simply put in another way, whole of जगत् is nothing else but भगवान् working to know Himself or Herself or Itself by using Himself or Herself or Itself walking the path of Himself or Herself or Itself. Then what about you and me?  That is the सहस्र कोटि प्रश्न. 😊😊😊

13:18/19 (4) – Once again, श्रीकृष्ण says that His भक्त is fit to obtain His state. भक्त, as we discussed earlier, is one who continually focusses his attention on Oneness at all times. And because his mind is always dwelling on ब्रह्म, he becomes more qualified for attaining Him. भक्ति is thus not a separate path but more of an attitude that must be cultivated by all the followers of different paths who may call themselves as a ज्ञान योगी/ कर्मयोगी/ ध्यानयोगी.

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि। विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसंभवान्।।13.20।।

13.20 Know that (विद्धि) both (उभौ अपि) प्रकृति and the पुरुष (प्रकृतिं पुरुष च) are without beginning (अनादि); know that (विद्धि) all modifications (विकारान् एव च)  and the attributes (गुणान् च) are born of (संभवान्) प्रकृति.

13:20 (1) – Things get really complex from now since it has been a smooth affair thus far😊. First, श्रीकृष्ण began by saying that All is One and all is Him only. Despite repetition, this idea does not sink-in. Then He used four terms to convey the same idea – क्षेत्र – क्षेत्रज्ञ – ज्ञान – ज्ञेय. Maybe अर्जुन was still reflecting a blank expression 😊. So श्रीकृष्ण now conveys the same idea using the terms प्रकृति – पुरुष (popularly used by the सांख्य branch of अध्यात्म विद्या) which is the same as Consciousness – Matter duality or क्षेत्रज्ञ-क्षेत्र duality or परा-अपरा duality (Ch 9). In some texts, शिव-शक्ति duality or श्रीविष्णु-श्रीलक्ष्मि duality  are also used similarly. You may be familiar with the prayer – जगत: पितरौ वन्दे पार्वती परमेश्वरौ – both the dualities are our माता and पिता. This simple idea of dividing everything in our विश्व into two alone had spurred tremendous creativity in all aspects of ancient भारत worldview. As per our शास्त्र, both प्रकृति & पुरुष are अनादि. So we say that ईश्वर is the कारण of सृष्टि (projection) of the विश्व and both पुरुष- प्रकृति duality are present within ईश्वर before सृष्टि itself. And this ईश्वर is a state prior to the concept of space and time. Therefore, विश्व being an evolute of ईश्वर, all of life within विश्व is a mixture of both प्रकृति & पुरुष.

13:20 (2) – So how do we understand these two? Both have different स्वभाव – प्रकृति is सविकार, पुरुष is निर्विकार, प्रकृति is सगुण, पुरुष is निर्गुण. प्रकृति is अस्वतन्त्र or dependent while पुरुष is स्वतन्त्र. प्रकृति is जड (matter) while पुरुष is चैतन्य (consciousness). पुरुष is the basis of Unity while प्रकृति is the basis of diversity. Both these dualities have always been there. पुरुष is same as क्षेत्रज्ञ while all the 24 evolutes called as क्षेत्र earlier come out of प्रकृति. Logically, one may argue as how can प्रकृति be अनादि but also be dependent on पुरुष? A tentative उत्तर based on my limited reading – प्रकृति is said to be composed of three forces at a primal level – इच्छा, ज्ञान & क्रिया. In the case of us too, from our own little दृष्टि, we have our own limited इच्छा, ज्ञान & क्रिया. Even while we may not express an इच्छा, it is present within us in a बीज दश (or potential form). It is just that at some time,  I may express an इच्छा and make it व्यक्त or manifest while at other times, I keep it in an अव्यक्त स्थिति only. But both co-exist along within a single me at all times. And इच्छा does not exist in vacuum – one presupposes existence of a person who in turn is the owner or possessor of the इच्छा. Put another way, all of diversity is प्रकृति that starts from इच्छा while पुरुष is the coordinating principle. Thus, प्रकृति is also अनादि but it is dependent on पुरुष. प्रकृति is also thus called as the माया शक्ति of भगवान् or put in another way, both are One only.

13:20 (3) – Let us now turn to calendar art – when शिव is shown alone with His eyes closed,  the mountains around are frigid, white and inactive but when शिव opens His eyes, पार्वती is next to Him while गणेश, कार्तिकेय, नन्दी, etc look up-to them and कैलाश looks green and rich. Both always exist but प्रकृति in the form of जगन्माता is seen next to Him when शिव opens His eyes. And the whole family looks up-to them means the whole manifested विश्व that comes about is dependent on these two. But when there is no experience, ie.,  eyes of शिव are closed, प्रकृति is latent or in बीज दश. But She is always there within Him. So when शिव opens His eyes, He first has an इच्छा for अनुभव, this इच्छा is then backed by ज्ञान to project a universe in line with the इच्छा and then the actual क्रिया of projection takes place. This trio of इच्छा, ज्ञान & क्रिया is expressed as a wife of शिव. Note however that this wife is not really separate from Him but is His own. Both are One only.

13:20 (4) – Let us imagine a giant amusement park buzzing with activity. On a pitch dark night also, let us assume that all the rides are moving about actively. However, such activity is अदृष्य unless lights are turned on. पुरूष may be taken as a state when there are no lights but when the light are on,  प्रकृति is seen or experienced. The idea of doership, likes, desires,  etc., come from प्रकृति. The field of experience, viz क्षेत्र, is also the प्रकृति and thus the farmland,  the crops, our body-mind complex, etc also arise from प्रकृति. But the one who experiences प्रकृति is the पुरुष. An amusement park does not enjoy for itself and all ups and downs are experienced by the one who takes the rides. Without an enjoyer, the park has no meaning at all. So the enjoyer is the one who conceives what he or she wants as a सूत्रधार, plans and creates a क्षेत्र, goes to the stage and acts or plays the role and enjoys/ suffers the outcome. So is पुरुष enjoying and suffering or is he/she just witnessing? We will talk about this in later verses as this narrative gets more interesting.

13:20 (5) – One last but important point. The word मिथ्या is often translated as illusion or magic. This is however a technical word which means “dependent”. So we thus state that ब्रह्म is सत्य or Truth while जगत् is मिथ्या since जगत् or प्रकृति as used above is अस्वतन्त्र since it is dependent on ब्रह्म. Hence it is called मिथ्या.

कार्यकरणकर्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिरुच्यते। पुरुषः सुखदुःखानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते।।13.21।।

13.21 The प्रकृति is said to be (उच्यते) the cause (हेतुः) of agency (कर्तृत्वे) to the body (कार्य) and instruments (करण). The पुरुष is said to be (उच्यते) the cause of (हेतुः) experiencing (भोक्तृत्वे) pleasure and pain (सुखदुःखानां).

13:21 (1) – कार्य means body, the effect. करण means instruments of perception which is the sense organs (eye sees, ear hears, etc). And कारण means cause. So wherever there is कार्य and कारण, viz effect and cause,  the reason for these to happen is प्रकृति. Body is called as an effect since body gets formed owing to कर्म done through operation of the senses. कर्म is the कारण here. This means that wherever there is action by instrument of senses, they always deal in cause and effect relation and this is the zone of प्रकृति. You take food and digest it – you get strength and you can see प्रकृति there. Eating for strength or joy thus is an activity compelled by प्रकृति within us. जन्म & मरण are both within the zone of प्रकृति since doer-ship for actions happens at a मन/ बुद्धि level causing कर्म which in turn necessarily creates a field of experience viz the body or क्षेत्र. As we know, both मन/ बुद्धि and शरीर are evolutes of प्रकृति only.

13:21 (2) – So where is पुरुष present? Wherever there is an अनुभव of सुख or दु:ख, पुरुष is present there. प्रकृति has no सुख or दु:ख since it is dull dead matter; a table or chair does not have सुख or दु:ख. Why just a table – even a जिव्हा or उदर or चक्षु (which are प्रकृति) do not have an अनुभव of joy since they merely convey their sensation to the real experiencer viz us. Only because there is पुरुष, one experiences सुख or दु:ख. Do note that while पुरुष has अनुभव of सुख or दु:ख, He is not सुखी or दु:खी.

13:21 (3) – Wherever we see an inert object like a stone,  they just exist and we call a stone as प्रकृति with the सत् (means existence) aspect of पुरुष. Similarly, a table or chair just exist and these also may be taken primarily as evolutes of प्रकृति. Nature is also called as प्रकृति since it merely exists – nature has no consciousness. But wherever there is a प्राणी, you have सत् + चित्. So in a प्राणी, प्रकृति combines with सत् + चित् aspect of पुरुष. And wherever this aspect of पुरुष comes about,  there is भोक्तृत्व which means ability to have अनुभव or enjoy and thus from the living cell onwards, we have both सत् as well as भोक्तृत्व.

13:21 (4) – Then what about us? We also have भोक्तृत्व owing to अनुभव but something is missing. As has been told earlier, पुरुष is all three put together – सत् – चित् – आनन्द eternally. And while you and me today certainly possess both सत् & चित् aspect of पुरुष, आनन्द of an eternal nature eludes us. Even our temporary आनन्द depends on some aspect of प्रकृति (eating food,  drinking, etc) and is thus a dependent आनन्द. Once आनन्द of an innate type comes onto us,  we have achieved कैवल्य. Any life form – a plant body or animal body or human body, can have an अनुभव of कैवल्य once पूर्ण पुरुष of the सत् – चित् – आनन्द aspect gets fully expressed within itself.

13:21 (5) – Just to reiterate, we take on a body owing to our कर्म. कर्म here means all actions done with doer-ship. Doer-ship means acting with an idea that we are limited and separate from others. One who DOES an action is spurred by प्रकृति while पुरुष does not act at all – it just witnesses and enjoys. Thus, when we do धर्म, we are not doing OUR action. OUR means action arising within the मन/ बुद्धि complex. A judge who gives judgement setting his convict son free will not incur कर्म if his judgement was based on evidence. This is because his action is impersonal in the sense that any other धार्मिक judge would have acted in a same way. If there is no कर्म, no “cause” happens and thus no “effect” in the form of body comes about in the future.

पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान्। कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु।।13.22।।

13.22 Indeed (हि), the पुरुष seated in प्रकृति (प्रकृति स्थ:) experiences (भुङ्क्ते) the गुण born of प्रकृति (प्रकृतिजान्). In regard to the births (जन्मसु) in virtuous and non-virtuous (सद् – असद्) wombs (योनि), one’s (अस्य) attachment to (modifications of) गुण (गुण-सङ्ग:) is the cause (कारणं).

13:22 (1) – पुरुषः and प्रकृति separation is not realized by all of us since these are fully mixed up within us and property of one is imputed onto another. As per our texts, a हंस has the ability to separate milk & water and a परमहंस is one who can separate operation of प्रकृति from पुरुष within himself. However, for you and me, the words प्रकृति स्थ: is the operative principle –  पुरुष gets situated in or established within प्रकृति. Thus, while पुरुषः has ज्ञान that IT is eternal, because of mix up with प्रकृति, it ends up believing itself to be the body and thus looks for making the body eternal (eternality is a पुरुष trait while body, being an evolute of प्रकृति is ever-changing despite being अनादि itself). Equally, forms (विकार) or attributes (गुण)  belong to प्रकृति but these are imputed by the पुरुष onto himself despite पुरुष being निर्गुण. Both these errors have led to artificial imposition of a false identity onto ourselves. Inability to decouple these operation of प्रकृति & पुरुष within us is an Universal error. So why has this error come about?

13:22 (2) – Now to the crux of this वार्ता. As per our texts,  the very first Will of भगवान् which we call as Divine Will was/is – Let Me Be Many. And using Its प्रकृति, It projected the विश्व which led to creation of 24 तत्व (viz प्रकृति) into which It entered and energized them all. Thus, within all forms of life are present both the पुरुष and प्रकृति. It willed to experience its सत्-चित्-आनन्द state through all forms of life. In the beginning (सत्ययुग), It indeed was able to express Itself through all beings and all expressed the सत्-चित्-आनन्द state through their मन/ बुद्धि complex. Somewhere down the line, a fall happened.

13:22 (3) – A split happened and a Higher आत्मा and lower जीव came about. Our मन/ बुद्धि complex, living on borrowed चेतना from the पुरुष developed a life of its own. It acquired a limited ego and experienced a sense of separatedness from its higher (or real) पुरुष state. This अनुभव of separateness is a peculiar stage of evolution. The अहम् भाव within मन/ बुद्धि complex became clouded making it unable to reflect the ज्योति of the पुरुष in a seamless manner. Put another way,  प्रकृति took over and पुरुष came under its sway in that life form. Or a robot meant to work under human command rebelled against the humans even though it cannot exist without humans. Sure enough, the पुरुष continued to energize प्रकृति while allowing प्रकृति to dominate within the individual body. So why did it allow itself to be dominated? Could it be out of weakness? No since पुरुष cannot be weak. Could it be out of love since It saw मन/ बुद्धि as its child? So it gave free will to मन/ बुद्धि to play while controlling it? How does it control? Do we not see one hand of देवी holding a पाश and दंड while simultaneously showering wealth and blessings? Love and prosperity given along with leash on free will and punishment in the form of कर्मफल.

13:22 (4) – Says संत ज्ञानेश्वर: Just like a moon gets invisible on an अमावास्य night or as clouds arising in the sky transform a good day to a gloomy one or like brilliance of a jewel gets covered by cloth or like a king reduced to a state of helplessness, the पुरुष loses splendour after identifying with प्रकृति. However, just like when there is a disturbance in water, multiple moon reflections appear but the ignorant attribute it to the moon or just like a crystal appears red in colour when it is in close proximity to red powder,  the birthless पुरुष appears to have diverse births owing to his association with the गुण of प्रकृति. Thus, a man falls and this separation from our own true nature is the cause of दुःख in this world. दुःख does not mean sorrow as is usually translated but actually means living life with a cut-off identity.

13:22 (5) – So ब्रह्म is full and complete and joyful. But He wanted to have अनुभव of this पूर्णत्वम्. So He became many. Why did पुरुष will to become many?  Why did पुरुष allow a limited identity to come about? We cannot understand it. We cannot explain it. Why? Because when we limited beings desire, our desires are made from state of अपूर्णता and meeting desires makes us पूर्ण (with respect to that desire). Hence our desires are called as काम. But भगवान् is पूर्णम् but still He desired. So His desires cannot be काम.  Maybe we will know the answer to the “Why” question only when we reach his पूर्णता state. We thus call His desire to become many as लीला. Let us use an analogy. A man is joyfully sleeping on the bed – he is happy. So he says – is there joy in dancing? Why has this thought come into him. Why does one get inspired to climb Everest? Why does one want to fly out of space? No one knows.

13:22 (6) – So our man goes to a disco and has joy there too. This means he leaves or gives up his joyful state on the bed and becomes what he is not, viz., to take up रजोगुण and dance on the dance floor. ब्रह्म similarly gives up His state of पूर्णता and takes on अपूर्णता. Post dance, he should have come back. In सत्ययुग, this was indeed happening. But things changed. So our dancer gets drunk, fights with another, goes to jail, befriends a thief, becomes a thief, gets money,  marries, has kids….  Then one day,  he remembers his original state of joyfully sleeping on the bed. He longs to go back home but he has forgotten his path. He starts कर्म by asking people for the path. He gets a map (scriptures). He goes to a map reader (गुरू). Outside world commitments still call on him (वासना trouble him) but he continues with the path of return. Over time with years of साधना, he remembers the path. And he reaches home and back on bed 😊. And why all this? It is His लीला -😊😊😊.

मुंडक उपनिषद्

Two birds living together, each the friend of the other, perch upon the same tree. Of these two, one eats the sweet fruit of the tree, but the other simply looks on without eating.

The two birds are the जीव and ईश्वर, both existing in an individual compared to a tree. They exist together as the reflection and the original. They both manifest themselves in different ways in every individual. From the characteristics of the जीव it is possible to infer the nature of ईश्वर, and from the nature of ईश्वर it is possible to determine the potentialities of the जीव. Both the जीव and ईश्वर have a common substratum which is ब्रह्म and which is the reality of both. The body is compared to a tree because it can be cut down like a tree. This tree is also called the क्षेत्र of the क्षेत्रज्ञ or the knower of the field. The body is the field of action and experience and it is the fruit of actions done already.

UB: That which distinguishes the जीव from ईश्वर is the mind only. In fact, the mind itself constitutes the जीव. It is the जीव that is affected by अविद्या, काम and कर्म. Because of the conjunction of पुरुष with प्रकृति, it has to experience the results of its कर्म; but ईश्वर, who is not limited to any adjunct, has no कर्म whatsoever to perform, and so, no experience of the कर्मफल. The फल enjoyed by the जीव are of the nature of सुख and दु:ख, i.e., they are all relative experiences born of absence of विवेक. The अनुभव of ईश्वर is eternal and is of the nature of purity, knowledge and freedom. Relative experience is the effect of the presence of रजोगुण, but the character of ईश्वर is सत्वगुण and, hence, there is no phenomenal experience for Him. He is in fact the director of both the agent of actions and the results of actions. ईश्वर’s activity consists in His mere existence. The value of His existence is greater than that of the activity of the whole universe. It is His existence that actuates the whole universe of manifestation.

In the self-same tree the individual (bird) is drowned in grief because of delusion and impotency. When it beholds the other (bird), viz., the adorable Lord, it realises its own glory and gets freed from sorrow.

When the knowing individual has the vision of the intelligent creator, the ईश्वर, the पुरष, the ब्रह्म which is the source of all, then it shakes off both merit and demerit, and having become taintless, attains to supreme equality with ईश्वर.

Materialism as an opposite of अध्यात्म is a misdirected view. A little bit of thinking will make us realize that materialism is also an expression of अध्यात्म. What is अध्यात्म after all?  Expanding in a way where we become one with all or making all a part of us. What is materialism? Taking a cup of coffee and making it a part of us by pouring it into our body. And once this happens,  we experience bliss (at least for some time). Now is there bliss in the coffee?  Of course not since if this is brought in front of me,  I’ll puke 😊. But drinking of coffee in many tingles something inside and out comes an expression of आनन्द. Something within us, maybe a nerve current carrying आनन्द within itself gets tingled and आनन्द is felt. And then it goes away. And we brink coffee again next day and again the nerve current is tingled. Eat a mango,  watch a movie,  buy a house, win an argument with spouse, watch someone beautiful….  All these are nothing else but ways to tingle the nerve current of आनन्द within us. And in all these,  we are going outside us to make such aspect of प्रकृति into oneness with us. But if we step back and think by applying reason,  it becomes obvious that the immense variety within प्रकृति is such that even if we take each time one by one and make it ours, we will need multiple lifetimes to make all items ours. And प्रकृति is also growing and not static. And then it strikes. We have the nerve current within us itself. If there a possibility to tingle this without an external object. This way,  the effort involved in search for objects is dispensed with while the nerve current within me if activated will keep giving me joy again and again and again. Thus we move from अध्यात्म involving higher effort to अध्यात्म involving lesser effort. So the moral of the story is – do not worry about being a materialist since this is also an अध्यात्म pursuit only 😊😊😊

1. श्रीआंजनेय & श्रीराम: There is a line attributed to श्रीआंजनेय addressed to श्रीराम – At the body level, You are my गुरु and I am Your शिष्य. At the मन/ बुद्धि level, You are my आराध्य देवता and I am Your भक्त. At the level of आत्मा however, You and Me are one since both are of one substance only. Any idea of relationship thus exists only in the realm of प्रकृति but at an अध्यात्म level, all of us are One. All are not equal since equality is an idea that presupposes presence of two (or more) but all are just of one substance. And because we are of one substance, we are equal in the realm of प्रकृति – basic of equality is thus an innate oneness and not an artificially imposed politically defined equality.

• मीरा: पुरुष – प्रकृति is often expressed as Male – Female through I prefer Masculine – Feminine. Given that ईश्वर is Itself mixed up with Masculine – Feminine, both these are ingredients in us too, male as well as female. No wonder ज्ञानेश्वर said that while पुरुष is expressed as a He, He is neither a He nor a She nor a It. However, in most religions, भगवान् is expressed as a He and Nature or Earth expressed as a She though the Highest is neither or both. Why? I do not know though this is a common usage across all cultures; maybe this is rooted in idea of grammar in our language and is thus an area of research for me. There is a famous story of मीरा who went to meet a very famous कृष्ण भक्त. As she reached the doorstep of the आश्रम, she was asked to leave since the भक्त kept away from women. मीरा replied back – “This is surprising!!!  I thought all of life is a She and there is only one Male, the पुरुषोत्तम,  Her गिरिधारी”. The भक्त was stunned to hear this and came rushing out and welcomed मीरा. So what was going on here?  All human lives are merely manifestation of प्रकृति and all depend on Him, the पुरुषोत्तम, the Masculine. Since the भक्त knew the wisdom behind her words, he rushed out to invite her in – knowing the underlying principle helps in making these events a little more enriching or else they will remain good-to-hear though unclear.
• महाकाली & शिव: But can the masculine sustain without the feminine? You may be familiar with the line – If there is no शक्ति, शिव is शव. Both exist and ईश्वर is a joint expression of both. So when असुर were troubling the order of the Universe, देवता reached out to शक्ति seeking Her help for असुर संहार. So She took on Her काली रूप and vanquished the असुर. However, She continued to remain in Her काली रूप  and continued to create havoc in the Universe. The देवता were troubled again and now approached शिव for help. Now शिव knew that Mother is unstoppable even by Him. But He knew that She cannot live without Him since She is a पतिव्रता (meaning प्रकृति is dependent on पुरुष).  So He decides to appeal to Her पतिव्रता attribute. He lies down on the path which He knew She will cross over. And as She kept on walking, She stepped on Her husband. The shock of stepping on Her husband brought Her out of काली रूप and she turned back into Her सौम्य रूप. What on earth is still story all about?  😊
• Multiple दृष्टि of the same story: From an अध्यात्म lens, while often we set out to do wonderful deeds, we get carried away by the fame/ popularity that comes as an outcome of the good deed. We can then become a menace to the world with our arrogance. But in such a state, if our higher reason (our आत्मा) appeals to us with love, we step back with humility embarrassed about how we lost ourselves to arrogance. And we regain our original state – this is an अध्यात्म version. But will a स्थूल person find value from this story? From a भौतिक lens (or अधिभौतिक lens) too, this story has a utility. So if wife becomes demanding or troublesome, should the husband shout on her or fight with her? NO.  The husband should instead appeal to her reason as well as her love for the husband. For this purpose, even if this means he has to bend or lie down or take slaps, he should willingly do this. After all, does he not love his wife? Can he live without her?  And by bringing out love from within her, he can restore her to her normal self. What value will a woman have from this story?  Well!  If her husband does not cajole her when she is off-mood, she can quote this story and ask her husband to appeal to Her reason 😊. And there is a version from अधिदैव & अधियज्ञ lens too. Many पुराण events match up in a positive sense from अधिदैव, अधिभौतिक, अधियज्ञ and अध्यात्म lens thus catering to लौकिक, बौद्धिक as well as अध्यात्म lens – all we need is the proper दृष्टि to recognize these lens. So the next time we read a पुराण and the story does not make sense, it is a sign that our mind is still स्थूल and needs to be made more सूक्ष्म to connect with it. 😊😊

उपद्रष्टाऽनुमन्ता च भर्ता भोक्ता महेश्वरः। परमात्मेति चाप्युक्तो देहेऽस्मिन्पुरुषः परः।।13.23।।

13.23 The पुरुष in the body (अस्मिन् देने) is called the limitless (पर:), immediate witness (उपद्रष्टा), permitter (अनुमन्ता), sustainer (भर्ता), experiencer (भोक्ता), the great lord (महेश्वरः) and indeed called (इति अपि युक्त:) as the the परमात्मन् in the body (देहेऽस्मिन्).

य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैःसह। सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते।।13.24।।

13.24 The one who in this way (य एवं) knows (वेत्ति) the पुरुष & प्रकृति with its गुण (गुणैःसह) – that one (स:), even though performing actions (वर्तमान: अपि) in all ways (सर्वथा), is not born (न अभिजायते) again (भूय:).

13:23/24 (1) – What is the difference between ईश्वर & जीव? Within ईश्वर, प्रकृति is subservient to पुरुष in the sense that the desires and wishes are fully under the control of the controller. In the case of जीव viz us, मन/ बुद्धि viz प्रकृति viz the lower self has taken over. So where is the पुरुष? Viewed from this perspective, the higher Self or पुरुष becomes a witness. He watches and permits मन/ बुद्धि to live as per their whims and fancy and like a loving parent, He allows or gives freedom to मन/ बुद्धि to live their choice of life. He supports them and allows them to play like an indulgent parent. And He also enjoys watching His kids having fun as they go through the trials and tribulations of life. He is thus a sustainer since He allows मन/ बुद्धि to live as per the चेतना (viz His तत्व) that it acquired from Him meaning that the battery of मन/ बुद्धि continues to keep getting charged by the presence of पुरुष within us. And this पुरुष is present in all of us as परमेश्वर. Thus, we see an interesting role reversal where पुरुष is the subject and मन/ बुद्धि becomes the object while from our मन/ बुद्धि lens, we are the subject while पुरुष is the object of our study. So what is the truth?  Who is the real subject and who is the real object? Is it one or the other or neither or both 😊😊?

13:23/24 (2) – So often when मन/ बुद्धि self gets disillusioned or disappointed longing for a deeply felt wish, he or she reaches out to the पुरुष within (or outside). If the calling is sincere, the following three are possible –

1. If the मन/ बुद्धि cry is deserving as per its कर्म, पुरुष dips into प्रकृति since प्रकृति is in Its control and fulfils the wish raised by the मन/ बुद्धि complex, Or
2. With the light of पुरुष capable of purifying the thinking ability of मन/ बुद्धि owing to constant prayer, the मन/ बुद्धि sees reason and this higher wisdom either does away with the wish or learns to accept its state even though the wish remains unfulfilled. Both these calm the angst within मन/ बुद्धि (or lower self). And it then says – My prayers have been answered. 😊😊

13:23/24 (3) – But there will come a day when the lower self realizes its own resistance for expansion and futility of its अपूर्णता. Real ज्ञान thus dawns that it needlessly split from the higher पुरुष. After eons of intense साधना, it eventually attains सिद्धि and gives itself up by reintegrating with the Higher Self or पुरुष. Once this state is reached, प्रकृति again comes under the control of पुरुष. And it lives a life of full allegiance to धर्म. And the verse says that even though one is doing intense activity, because this person is able to distinguish between प्रकृति and पुरुष within him,  he will not be born again (since कर्म will not apply to such a person). Thus, राम was a पुरुषोत्तम who lived the life of a क्षत्रिय who in turn accepted two others – पुरुषोत्तम वसिष्ठ and पुरुषोत्तम विश्वामित्र as His गुरू. He also accepted another पुरुषोत्तम हनुमान as His शिष्य also blessed पुरुषोत्तम शबरी & पुरुषोत्तम अहल्य. Thus, He lived as many beings by fulfilling धर्म among all these bodies. This is enjoyment for Him and the only word that does justice to this kind of enjoyment is लीला, a play. What else can one say to this unique form of lifestyle adopted by One?  He is just indulging Himself, that is all. 😊😊

ध्यानेनात्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिदात्मानमात्मना। अन्ये सांख्येन योगेन कर्मयोगेन चापरे।।13.25।।

13.25 Some (केचिद्) perceive (पश्यन्ति) the self (आत्मनं) within the mind by the mind (आत्मानि आत्मना) – with contemplation (ध्यानेन), others (अन्ये) simply by enquiry (सांख्येन योगेन) and still others (अपरे च) while engaging in their duties (कर्मयोगेन).

अन्ये त्वेवमजानन्तः श्रुत्वाऽन्येभ्य उपासते। तेऽपि चातितरन्त्येव मृत्युं श्रुतिपरायणाः।।13.26।।

13.26 But some (अन्ये तु), not yet knowing (this teaching) (एवम् अजानन्तः), worship Me (उपासते) according to what they have heard (श्रुत्वा) from others (अन्येभ्य:) – these too (ते अपि च), being one for whom listening (to the teaching) is the ultimate end (श्रुति परायणाः), cross over (अतितरन्ति एव) death (मृत्युं).

13:25 / 26 (1) – Till now, we have discussed what is ज्ञान. Thus, when भगवान् says that He prefers people with ज्ञान, it does not mean ज्ञानी of the intellectual nerdy type – ज्ञानी means one who has managed to get ज्ञान to see the distinction between पुरुष & प्रकृति. Ultimately, this is the gold standard or पराकाष्ठा of ज्ञान that भगवान् consistently pushes for. And if we talk of birth and death, birth happens when मन/ बुद्धि has संयोग with शरीर and death happens when बुद्धि has वियोग with शरीर. And since both बुद्धि with शरीर are in the realm of प्रकृति only, पुरुष as the eternal तत्व is unconnected with birth and death.

13:25/26 (2) – Post ज्ञान, we now turn to ज्ञान साधना.  So how does one use one’s मन/ बुद्धि (आत्मना) to know the self-hidden with us (आत्मानि or हृदय आकाश) to be of the same  तत्व as सत्-चित्-आनन्द आकाश (आत्मानं)? There are multiple approaches which are taken on by our मन/ बुद्धि (आत्मना) depending on its state of सूक्ष्मता. Once भक्ति (viz yearning for Oneness) gets seeded within us, one either chooses ध्यान (meditation) or सांख्य (reading,  discussions,  etc) or कर्मयोग. So one who is struggling to manage greed, anger, etc with senses on a continual outgoing mode, one takes on to कर्म + उपासन path to address these obstacles. One who has conquered these but needs intellectual convincing is automatically drawn to सांख्य path. One who is intellectually convinced too apart from being stable physically/ mentally is automatically drawn to ध्यान (meditation) which helps him in coming into contact with his hidden वासना and terminate these. Depending on the level of सूक्ष्मता attained by each मन/ बुद्धि complex, one ends up picking such a mode that appeals to their state naturally. Eventually, all these will converge as अनुभव eventually raises the ability to distinguish between the working of पुरुष and प्रकृति within us.

13:25/26 (3) – And while we see संत like रामाकृष्ण or एकनाथ pursue all three paths in a visible sense, we cannot say that they are following these paths. This is because they have already crossed the paths and reached their goal. For a ज्ञानी, there are no distinctions between these three – भक्ति is all that matters. आदि शंकराचार्य can thus write a hugely intellectual commentary on ब्रह्मसूत्र or provide various प्रकरण ग्रंथ to us or prescribe मंदिर पद्धति to us as well as prescribe approaches to ध्यान or compose the wonderful poetry of सौंदर्यलहरी seemingly describing the भौतिक beauty of श्रीदेवी while actually pointing out Her अध्यात्मिक Truth.

13:25/26 (4) – And a fourth method is given here. Listening or श्रवण is also a path. If one does not know how to read or how to do कर्म, etc., what does one do? If they are in तमस्, nothing appeals to them anyway. But imagine one who has crossed all the paths in previous lives. He need not go through ब्रह्मसूत्र or वेद again.  Something within him needs to get tingled that triggers to move towards पुरुष. This may happen via access to a a गुरू who may expose this person to such महावाक्य like तत् त्वम् असि and the click happens instantly. In the देवी भागवतम्, there is a story of a boy who just heard of a बीज शब्द of the श्रीदेवी once accidentally and that word alone led him directly to have a साक्षात्कार of श्रीदेवी. Just one word. Or there is an episode of वामदेव who uttered अहं ब्रह्मास्मि while in the womb of his mother. Such people may be born anywhere,  belong to any religion, etc but those external aspects are irrelevant. Thus, श्रुति is the fourth way in which one ends up attaining the state of पुरुष.

यावत्सञ्जायते किञ्चित्सत्त्वं स्थावरजङ्गमम्। क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञसंयोगात्तद्विद्धि भरतर्षभ।।13.27।।

13.27 As long as (यावत्) any (किञ्चित्) being (सत्त्वं) be born (सञ्जायते) as immobile (स्थावर) or mobile (जङ्गमम्), know to be (विद्धि) due to the संयोग (संयोगात्) between क्षेत्र & क्षेत्रज्ञ, O भरतर्षभ!

13:27 (1) – What is ‘religion’? Is it a ‘worship cult’ focussed only on prayer to some distant God who is probably a rockstar 😊 out of fear/ favour or is it just about मोक्ष or global peace or happiness or reducing anger/ stress? हिन्दू idea of अध्यात्म is that it is a study of three – ईश्वर, जीव and जगत्. ईश्वर is पुरुष, जीव is प्रकृति and जगत् is world. But this श्लोक clearly states that everything in जगत् is a मिश्रण of प्रकृति & पुरुष.  Thus, all of diversity in जगत् has to be explainable in terms of how प्रकृति & पुरुष mix with one another. Note that this जगत् is operating within us too as well as outside us. At a simple level, this verse puts all मनुष्य irrespective of gender, race, nationality, sexual preference as well as trees, stones, grass, pigs, donkeys, dogs, mountains, etc at an even keel since all are a मिश्रण of प्रकृति & पुरुष. However, अध्यात्म विद्या goes a step further. If the goal of life is to decouple प्रकृति & पुरुष, should there not be an approach to identify प्रकृति first since only when we can identify it, we can segregate this from the पुरुष. It is thus useless for any religion to only make one statement that “All is One” without teaching us about the basis of difference too. So what gives diversity to various aspects of जगत् and how do we engage with these differences? A simple sample of how अध्यात्म plays this out is stated below.

13:27 (2) – Let us make Table 1 in Excel where we list three aspects of पुरुष viz सत्, चित् & आनन्द one below the other. Add a fourth row calling it as शून्य. Then create another table next to it listing down all the 24 components of प्रकृति (अव्यक्त, अहङ्कार, महाभूत, etc) and add शून्य here too. भगवान् is saying in this verse that all in जगत् is a combination of प्रकृति & पुरुष. So if we take शून्य from Table 1 and शून्य from Table 2, result will also be शून्य and thus such an object cannot exist – it is असत्. Rest all is at least सत् which means “to exist”. Take सत् from Table 1 and पञ्चभूत from Table 2, we will get all physical objects without चेतना like a stone or nebulae. Continuing, take सत् & चित् from Table 1, पञ्चभूत & मन and probably a rudimentary ज्ञानेन्द्रिय, from Table 2, we will get a tree. Note that a tree does not have अहङ्कार (or exists at a low level). And if we take सत् + चित् from Table 1 and all 24 components from Table 2, we get a मनुष्य and other beings too like mammals, etc with अहङ्कार level lower in animals and highest in मनुष्य. Note that आनन्द is not consistently distributed in case of a normal human. Now work out numerous combinations mathematically and we can assign every object in the जगत् to one of these अध्यात्म categories.

13:27 (3) – To the above two dimensions, we need to add a third dimension, a third table viz the त्रिगुण (सत्व, रजस् & तमस् viz a key theme of chapter fourteen) that gives shape & form to the Universe and character to us. And you get more combinations when variables of all three tables are combined. Our texts like पञ्चदशी or तत्वबोध define these in some amount of detail. Thus, (सत्+चित्) mixed with सत्व applied on अव्यक्त = बुद्धि within us, mixed with रजस् = प्राण and mixed with तमस् = शरीर within us. For example, Indian botany involved assiging dominant गुण to all plants and even animals – cow seen as सत्वगुण and mushroom as तमोगुण. And once the components of compounds are known, the धर्म of each compound becomes known and we can engage with each component as per its धर्म. And one can also play around with these components to create newer derivatives.

13:27 (4) – It is for this approach of दृष्टी adopted by our texts that we never had disparate topics like Philosophy, भौतिक विद्या, धर्म विद्या, etc being taught separately – पुराण texts deal with all these topics in the same text. Looking at the whole world as a मिश्रण of प्रकृति & पुरुष, segregating these domains as distinct disciplines thus is not an approach अध्यात्म will agree to. All aspects are connected and the basis of this connection is this idea of प्रकृति & पुरुष and the interplay of their sub-parts. Thus, all our texts like आयुर्वेद/ शिल्पशास्त्र/ नाट्यशास्त्र, etc, start with same ideas of प्रकृति-पुरुष and their sub-parts and the beauty is how these get reassembled to derive completely different outcomes. For example, you may know that our distinct body traits in आयुर्वेद are also referred to as प्रकृति (वात, पित्त & कफ).

13:27 (5) – All भारतीय भाषा are often referred to as प्राकृत भाषा which is derived from प्रकृति. Thus, भाषा evolved from nature and deepened with elements of local convention and practices that make us refer to all भाषा as प्राकृत. On the other hand, संस्कृत actually means refined or evolved. So the अध्यात्म thinkers like पाणिनी and probably many before him went across our landmass, took ideas from all भाषा, infused अध्यात्म दृष्टि into these by systematically applying अध्यात्म principles and out came संस्कृत. And संस्कृत in turn got happily co-opted into local languages thus making it evident to even a casual observer of a large presence of संस्कृत vocabulary in various भारतीय भाषा. Thus, even our भारतीय भाषा are a मिश्रण of प्रकृति and पुरुष 😊.

13:27 (6) – One प्रश्न always keeps coming up – why did we have intense debates in ancient India? Why various kinds of दृष्टि evolved, why so many संप्रदाय, why so many सिद्धांत, etc? And if there are differences, why are all collectively referred to as वैदिक? The answer is obvious – all of them had full agreement on components and sub-components of प्रकृति and पुरुष. And what distinguishes Indian thought with non-Indian thought is the absence of ideas of प्रकृति-पुरुष as well as गुण in non-Indian texts.  So why did we in India end up having multiple दृष्टि? While ideas of पुरुष, प्रकृति, जगत् & त्रिगुण and their derivative concepts like कर्म, धर्म, पुनर्जन्म, etc were common to all, there were variations (or should we say nuances) in the idea of पुरुष and nature of relationship between जीव and ईश्वर. And I guess this is a healthy but natural outcome given the सूक्ष्म nature of these ideas. Thus, even for intra debates within वैदिक दृष्टिकोण or inter debates with बौद्ध / जैन दृष्टिकोण, it was possible to have these exchanges since the underlying variables were common. Inter faith dialogue thus becomes far more difficult, if not impossible, owing to absence of these variables in non-Indian दृष्टिकोण.

13:27 (7) – So goal of सांख्य दृष्टि as per सांख्सकारिक is to decouple पुरुष & प्रकृति and once achieved, countless पुरुष will live eternally as पुरुष – there is no place for भगवान् here. योग दृष्टि also focusses on decoupling पुरुष & प्रकृति and presence of multiple पुरुष and while it does recognize the presence of भगवान् as a special पुरुष, it is not very important for योग to focus on भगवान् beyond a point. विशिष्ट दृष्टि talks about the trio of जीव, पुरुष and पुरषोत्तम as distinct and says that even though idea of पुरुष becoming free is real, it is still part of or dependent on पुरषोत्तम like cells on the body. Sometimes, I like the position of विशिष्ट. अद्वैत दृष्टि says that everything is भगवान् only and while for a स्थूल mind,  idea of a distinct भगवान् is indeed true and must be encouraged (since it is helpful and it works), at higher levels, as our minds become सूक्ष्म, they become capable of assimilating higher truths which will lead us, at the right time,  to the  viz तत् त्वम् असि or अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि.

13:27 (8) – So which one is true? My take is – It does not matter. Why? Because our mind is स्थूल. Do not ask questions on the highest with a kindergarden बुद्धि. Make your mind सूक्ष्म. Do साधना. Do नित्य अध्ययन. Keep सत्संग. Keep watching yourself at all times. And read all texts since they will tingle us intellectually as this is essential too for learning. Over years, if pursued with निष्ठा, one will develop सूक्ष्मता. And then Truth will get revealed. And one will find समन्वय between all these paths. And you will realize that the same सत्य is merely being expressed using different words. The limitation of भाषा becomes obvious. So you take on to मौन like रमण महऋषि. And talk only when necessary only to one to whom such ज्ञान has value. Rest of the time, you just smile and serve food to all. And enjoy the अमृत within while doing all these.

समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्। विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति।।13.28।।

13.28 The one (य:) who sees (पश्यति) परम् (परमेश्वरम्) as remaining (तिष्ठन्तं) the same (समं) in all bodies (सर्वेषु भूतेषु) and as not perishing (अविनश्यन्तं) when they perish (विनश्यत्सु), that one (alone) sees (स पश्यति).

13:28 (1) – Best श्लोक (among many other best श्लोक 😊). यः पश्यति स पश्यति are famous words. Who is the one with a दृष्टि? Who has sight? This easy-to-remember verse 13:28 is likeable. He who is able to see the underlying thread of unity in all of creation which binds all of diversity is a Seer. The word used is समं पश्यति meaning that He sees the same पुरुष in all. But He also sees the changing प्रकृति and therefore he is able to identify it, segregate it and discover the same पुरुष present in all. While He sees the diversity as प्रकृति, He knows that the basis of such diversity is Unity. How is such a vision helpful? One becomes impersonal and thus objective. To be personal means living as per the will of our मन/ बुद्धि and to be impersonal means to live as per the will of पुरुष.

13:28 (2) – Any other benefit of such a vision? The idea of a separate भगवान् lording over us goes away and removal of the idea of a distant भगवान् supervising every कर्म of ours as a taskmaster can be liberating in itself. There is no भगवान् in the sense of someone separate from us as She is very much involved in all our कर्म. Put another way, everything is भगवान् if we take भगवान् as पुरुष – प्रकृति combine. Maybe the density or number of components of पुरुष – प्रकृति vary across various उपाधि but both are present necessarily in all from a stone, ant, tree, donkeys as well as humans. How will we behave with even mechanical objects like keys or chairs if we look at these too as प्रकृति-पुरुष combine? A deeply अध्यात्म person I have watched from close quarters was gentle even with a pen and a chair that he used to handle. And if we live with the idea that our उपाधि is itself expressing भगवान्, how much more care will I observe in every word I utter, everything I see,  everything I eat,  everything I read, every thought I think and everything else 😊😊.

13:28 (3) – So how else can this समदृष्टि idea change our life? We are careful not to harm others but careful not to harm ourselves too. But just like we will fight the tendencies of our मन/ बुद्धि to take over our life (viz अधर्म), we will fight अधर्म perpetrated by others too. And thus, we will live with a fighter-mind दृष्टि. So there are two perspectives – one sees body as a temple, an अयोध्या, housing our आत्मा as श्रीराम (श्री is प्रकृति and राम is पुरुष) as we strive to create a राम राज्य within our अयोध्या. In our उपाधि, प्रकृति is faithful to राम. The other sees our body as a लंका (which means island) separated from others. Once such a separation idea comes about, रावण viz प्रकृति in the form of रजोगुण takes over our उपाधि which gets good support of कुंभकर्ण viz प्रकृति with a तमोगुण रूप.

13:28 (4) – Stress in life happens when प्रकृति as our lower mind is not aligned to राम and gets separated from राम – both suffer when this happens. But with राम always working within us, we are focused on धर्म and no matter what happens outside, we are at peace at all times. Thus, despite same पुरुष abiding in all, we see that in some उपाधि, राम appears to be dominating while रावण in many others. So what do we do? First, within our अयोध्या, we endeavour to create a राम राज्य. As we then engage with other उपाधि too, we attempt to call out to सत्वगुण in the form of विभीषण to work with us (meaning we appeal to their higher vision). If this does not happen, as a last resort, we fight with the रावण (both within and without) which is what श्रीकृष्ण is advising अर्जन to do too. This fight is one to establish राम राज्य in all उपाधि and not for personal glory or ego like रावण. To thus be a राम भक्त is an aspiration worth striving for like श्रीआंजनेय or तुकाराम or त्यागराज or कबीर who were immersed in राम all the time and thus lived worthy lives.

13:28 (5) – We often hear the famous Indian expression – All paths lead to the One. एकम् सत् विप्र: बहुधा वदन्ति.  Why was this line expressed in the Vedas? The answer comes out when one reads the पुराण. All may be aware that we have पुराण dedicated to श्रीदेवी, श्रीकृष्ण, श्रीगणेश, स्कन्ध, महाविष्णु, महादेव, etc. So comes an uninformed question – who do we follow since each one is extolling one type of देवता and making others subservient to it? But once one starts reading these texts, going beyond the nouns used in each text, each text talks about एकम् सत् viz ब्रह्म, प्रकृति-पुरुष duality, evolution of प्रकृति into 24 categories followed by सृष्टि (projection) and स्थिति followed by involution viz लय and तुरीया अवस्था as well as ideas about धर्म, कर्म, यज्ञ, temporality of स्वर्ग, त्रिगुण etc. These unique markers of Indian thought are seen in पुराण. Now if the line of all paths leading to one is conveyed in India, this made sense in the context of commonality of sub-components among all these पुराण.

13:28 (6) – Our fascination for एकम् सत् is what probably draws us to Taoists, Sufis, Zen masters, African tribals, Christian Mystics, etc since they also appear to express एकम् सत्. The name assigned to the religion is incidental – what is key is the एकम् सत. At the एकम् सत् level,  there is no religion, is there? Anyone who thus suggests a path viz not aligned to the idea of एकम् सत् cannot thus be seen with the same eye even if it is a path that calls itself as having derived from the Vedas. We need to thus be very careful in applying the maxim of all paths leading to One in a casual तमोगुण manner just because it sounds cool and politically correct. Religions which are प्रकृति driven or people who follow a religion chasing their प्रकृति orientations cannot be said to follow a valid path. These needs to be debated, argued and fought against just like scientists fight with people promoting pseudo-science

13:28 (7) – Last is my personal take on देवालय. If one visits any देवालय built as per आगम शास्त्र, one will observe that there is no देवालय where राम is shown singly but is always shown with सीता.  Why? Because राम is पुरुष while सीता representing प्रकृति are jointly representative of ईश्वर (and there are other symbology too but I will be digressing too much 😊). Similarly, शिवलिंग is shown together with योनि or श्रीकृष्ण shown with रुक्मिणी (as in पंढरपुर) or महाविष्णु with श्री in His वक्षस्थल or वेंकटेश्वर shown with श्रीदेवी & भूदेवी. Now if one argues that श्रीगणेश is shown singly, I will say – watch closely 😀. The elephant head that was placed by शिव represents पुरुष while his whole body created by पार्वती represents प्रकृति. And watch closer again – the trunk of श्रीगणेश is tilted towards and touches the heart (which symbolizes प्रकृति) and श्रीगणेश is ईश्वर only because both of them come together. Thus, only if the देवालय (or a piece of art) conveys this truth, it has value or else it may be a beautiful, marble designed calm place with lakes and swans but has no worth if the idea of ईश्वर is not conveyed effectively. So one must attempt to SEE ईश्वर in a देवालय instead of getting distracted by its प्रकृति beauty or प्रकृति chaos. देवालय is not meant to be a place to create an artificially inspired peace of mind but one goes there to get दृष्टि of ईश्वर and align ourselves with this Universal Truth.

समं पश्यन्हि सर्वत्र समवस्थितमीश्वरम्। न हिनस्त्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानं ततो याति परां गतिम्।।13.29।।

13.29 For (हि), seeing (पश्यन्) the परम् (ईश्वरम्) (i.e., self) abiding (समवस्थितम्) alike (समं) everywhere (सर्वत्र), one does not destroy (न हिनस्ति) the self (आत्मानं) by oneself (mind) (आत्मना) and therefore (तत:) reaches (याति) the highest goal (परां गतिम्).

प्रकृत्यैव च कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि सर्वशः। यः पश्यति तथाऽऽत्मानमकर्तारं स पश्यति।।13.30।।

13.30 And the one who (य: च) sees (पश्यति) actions (कर्माणि) being done (क्रियमाणानि) in every way (सर्वशः) by प्रकृति alone (प्रकृत्या एव) and, likewise (तथा), (sees) that the self (आत्मानं) is not a doer (अकर्तारं), that one (alone correctly) sees (स पश्यति).

13:29/30 (1) – What is आत्महत्या as per आदि शंकराचार्य? Killing our body cannot be called as आत्महत्या since body is प्रकृति and not आत्मा. And since आत्मा is eternal, It cannot die as It cannot be killed. However, if using our मन/ बुद्धि complex also called as जीवात्मा, we do not align with the unitary पुरुष and instead live as a limited person, we have indeed lived AS IF we have killed our आत्मा. All lives led in this अपूर्ण manner is thus deemed as आत्महत्या. Are we all not committing the crime of आत्महत्या every moment of our lives? But one who is a seer will not use his जीवात्मा to kill his परमात्मा. Such a person will always remain objective and impersonal and live a life of धर्म witnessing all aspects of life without getting coloured by these just like a कमल lives in murky water but glows beautifully without getting touched by or getting impacted its dirty surroundings.

13:29/30 (2) – All कर्म are done by प्रकृति. The पुरुष just watches and enjoys watching. Imagine a doll that claps when the key behind it is turned on. The doll claps and the kids laughs happily. Doll being inert is प्रकृति while kid as per experiencer is doing no action but enjoys fully. The problem comes about when the hands of kid start paining when the doll claps continuously. By a peculiar mistake, if the kid starts feeling that he is clapping and making sounds, he gets tired and he also has an अनुभव of pain. So the same kid has an अनुभव of सुख earlier and दु:ख later. Both are mistaken notions.

13:29/30 (3) – In our life too, we may get promotion in office but one way to view this is that प्रकृति is playing itself out and another way is that we feel good because our hard work has paid off. While in the former, we shrug off and move on continuing to focus on धर्म while in the latter, we throw a party and immediately get on to create favourable conditions for our next promotion. This means we are setting ourselves into a possible trap of welcoming दु:ख later if the next promotion does not happen. But in the former, we just watched and remained stable. This means that we will celebrate every day of our life if and whether promotion happens or not while living under the sway of प्रकृति means option of daily joy or being a नित्यतृप्त is not available. The choice is ours.

यदा भूतपृथग्भावम् एकस्थमनुपश्यति। तत एव च विस्तारं ब्रह्म सम्पद्यते तदा।।13.31।।

13.31 When he (यदा) perceives that (अनुपश्यति) the (apparent) independent separatedness (पृथग् -भावम्) of all beings (भूत) resolves into one (एकस्थं), and (that all these apparently separate beings) are a projection (विस्तारं) from It alone (तत एव च), then (तदा) he attains (सम्पद्यते) to ब्रह्म.

अनादित्वान्निर्गुणत्वात्परमात्मायमव्ययः। शरीरस्थोऽपि कौन्तेय न करोति न लिप्यते।।13.32।।

13.32 Since it is beginningless (अनादित्वात्) and since it is without attributes (निर्गुणत्वात्), O कौन्तेय! this (अयम्) indivisible परमात्मन् (परम आत्मा अव्ययः) does not do action (न करोति) – even though present in the body (शरीर स्थ: अपि) nor is It affected [by the results of action) (न लिप्यते).

13:31/32 (1) – Since verse 25, a few benefits of अध्यात्म विद्या have been conveyed. First, we were told that all of life and non-life is a mix of पुरुष & प्रकृति; with this दृष्टि, one is able to thus access both भौतिक ज्ञान as well as अध्यात्म ज्ञान . Second, we learnt that living under the whims of मन/बुद्धि is akin to committing आत्महत्या every moment of our life. Third, seeing the same पुरुष abiding in all, we will develop a vision of समत्वम्. Fourth, we realize that the पुरुष within us is an अकर्ता or non-doer enabling us to also strive to be a non-doer by being continually focussed on धर्म at all times.

13:31/32 (2) – These verses add that once one realizes that the basis of all is one, one attains ब्रह्म. Why? I guess when this idea really sinks-in, not just at a बुद्धि level but at the level of अनुभव, the प्राकृतिक भेद among people & objects stop distracting us. We become relaxed with all diversity. And all diverse people, moods, emotions, objects, etc cease to stir us or maybe all of them amaze us equally. This समत्वम् attitude will then make us act with each such भेदरुप in the way we need to act with such a situation. Thus, with a person who perceives himself as our enemy, we do war. With a विद्यार्थी, we talk ज्ञान. With a mother, we are an आज्ञाकारी पुत्र/ पुत्री. With a scientist, we appeal to logic and reason. With a kid, we play and with an old man, we listen. All in all, we do not have a personality of our own but we live all personalities with all. We thus become the all which is nothing else but ब्रह्म. And who is a better example of this than श्रीकृष्ण Himself. He was all with all but He really was none of them at all. 😊

13:31/32 (3) – We should not lose common sense here. समत्वम् attitude does not mean we are goody-goody to all. If the person in front of us does an act of प्राकृतिक orientation, we slap the person whether it be a kid or a friend or our parent too. By not having a personality of our own does not mean that we have no self-worth. Our self-worth is the highest since our self is THE SELF, the पुरुषोत्तम. And because we are connected with IT, we see the same पुरुष in all. But if we see the lower self-dominating in someone, we try to acquaint them with their higher Self calmly. If the person is not interested, we just serve them food and move on. But if such a person becomes a menace to the society including to ourselves, we slap them. And we slap them hard. And the slap is given only to re-acquaint the other to his higher Self, the पुरुष just like a loving mother slaps a child for eating mud for his own benefit.

यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते। सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथाऽऽत्मा नोपलिप्यते।।13.33।।

13.33 Just as (यथा) the all-pervading (सर्वगतं) space (आकाशं) is not tainted (by movements of objects within space) (न उपलिप्यते) because of its subtlety (सौक्ष्म्यात्), similarly (तथा), the आत्मन् abiding in (अवस्थित:) each body everywhere (सर्वत्र देहे), is not tainted (न उपलिप्यते).

यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविः। क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत।।13.34।।

13.34 Just as the single sun illumines this whole world with its light (and remains unaffected by it), similarly, O भारत, the Knower of the field illumines the whole field.

क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोरेवमन्तरं ज्ञानचक्षुषा। भूतप्रकृतिमोक्षं च ये विदुर्यान्ति ते परम्।।13.35।।

13.35 Those who know thus through the eye of wisdom the distinction between the field and the Knower of the field, and the annihilation of the Matrix of beings,-they reach the Supreme.

13:33/35 (1) – We often see people thanking भगवान् by looking up in the sky. Why do people look up? What is up there that people see? What is up there is आकाश. And space, as we know is the most सूक्ष्म पदार्थ of our विश्व. And as per Indian texts, all of भौतिक प्रपञ्च gets evolved from आकाश. आकाश is thus seen as a positive substance and not an empty vacuum. And since आकाश तत्व is the closest expression of भगवान्, we look up to thank Him. Sometime in history, maybe a ज्ञानी would have looked up and later, it must have become a cultural practice though the doers obviously have no clue why they look up to thank Her 😊.

13:33/35 (2) – When asked to locate आकाश, we will locate आकाश in our room at all those places where there are no objects. Then if we are asked to locate आकाश outside the room, we locate आकाश at all places in other rooms where there are no objects. If we are then asked to locate आकाश outside our गृह, we point to आकाश all around us as well as the sky. And then our kids studying Physics (भौतिक विद्या) reminds us that there are vast amounts of आकाश between the nucleus and electron too within an atom. Then a shift happens and when we think deeply, we realize that the आकाश is not inside or outside the houses, in fact, the houses and people are located within आकाश. Since we have आकाश both outside and inside us, it is we who are obstructions to आकाश and not the other way round. And then we say, आकाश is all there is and all is an expression of आकाश. And in Yogic parlance, achievement of अध्यात्म सिद्धि happens when घट आकाश becomes चिद् आकाश when the घट viz pot is broken. घट is symbolized by our प्रकृति and the real I viz पुरुष is no longer bound by प्रकृति and becomes free. Now replace आकाश with पुरुष and the symbology used becomes a perfect example for seeking मोक्ष.

13:33/ 35 (3) – The clues to recognize the presence of पुरुष are all around us. But we refuse to see them. सूर्यप्रकाश is the perfect example of पुरुष. It is doing a most important job from an Earth perspective. It has nothing to gain itself from the job. But continues to shine day-in and day-out. And it shines via the moon in the night time too. And since there is better inspiration than the Sun for doing धर्म, we do नमन् of the Sun. We pray to it. This is not because Sun is God or we are doing nature worship. Far from it. After all, we now know that everything in the Universe is प्रकृति – पुरुष combine. But from the Sunlight, we can sense how पुरुष is meant to operate. How we must do धर्म can be learnt from the Sun. And once we do धर्म like this, we will no longer be influenced by the जड प्रकृति within us. And we will then attain to कैवल्य.

13:33/35(4) – What is common between पुरुष on one side and आकाश/ सूर्यप्रकाश on the other? Both are निर्गुण, both are निर्विकार, both are सूक्ष्म, both have सर्व व्यापकता (meaning they are present everywhere). So both these are best representations of पुरुष and some उपनिषद् thus have specific sections dedicated to उपासना or ध्यान of आकाश/ सूर्यप्रकाश as a way to conceive ब्रह्म. Of course, these are not easy. There is however one difference between पुरुष and आकाश/ सूर्यप्रकाश – while पुरुष has चेतना or consciousness, आकाश/ सूर्यप्रकाश are अचेतना since both form part of प्रकृति. And owing to चेतना, पुरुष is the “observing” तत्व while आकाश/ सूर्यप्रकाश are the “observed”. But among all aspects of प्रकृति, these are the closest expressions of पुरुष and श्रीकृष्ण therefore gave us the best examples to focus our energies on them to attain पुरुषोत्तम state.13:33/35 (5) – Lastly, we have this idea of putting on a टीका. We have two eyes which are only capable of seeing the भौतिक प्रपञ्च. The physical eyes transmit the information received by them to the mind which makes vision possible. As अध्यात्म विद्या is of a सूक्ष्म type, our भौतिक चक्षु with our मन are incapable of seeing अध्यात्म Truth since both these instruments are part of प्रकृति. So we need a third eye and टीका becomes our ज्ञानचक्षु as the third eye. It is applied on the space between two eyebrows which, as per तन्त्र, is called as आज्ञ चक्र meaning seat of wisdom. आ means ब्रह्म and ज्ञ means knowing and applying टीका is thus symbolizing our intent to experience life using our ज्ञानचक्षु. And since in modern India, we have evolved from being सगुण to निर्गुण, we do not see the need for a physical symbol of the ज्ञानचक्षु which has thus been dispensed with 😊. And with this noble intent of wanting to invoke our ज्ञानचक्षु, we end the chapter named क्षेत्र – क्षेत्रज्ञ विभाग योग.