The Field And The Knower Of The Field
You are a wave in the ocean of Existence. When the wave understands that it is not separate from the ocean, it drops its resistance and merges with the ocean.
arjuna uvāca prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva kṣetraṁ kṣetrajñameva ca I etad veditum icchāmi jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ ca keśava II 13.1
13.1 Arjuna says: O Keśava, I wish to know and understand about prakṛti and puruṣa, passive and active energies. The field [kṣetra] and the knower of the field [kṣetrajña], and of knowledge [jñānaṁ] and of the end of knowledge [jñeyaṃ].
śrībhagavānuvāca idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate I etadyo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ II 13.2
13.2 Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa replies: This body, O Kaunteya, is called the field, kṣetra. Anyone who knows this body is called the knower of the field, kṣetrajña.
kṣetrajñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarvakṣetreṣu bhārata I kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama II 13.3 13.3 O Bhārata, know that I am the Knower in all bodies [kṣetrajña], the witness. In my opinion knowledge means the understanding of this body or the field of activity as well as the Knower of this field.
tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca yadvikāri yataś ca yat I sa ca yo yat prabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me sṛṇu II 13.4
13.4 Understand my summary of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, how it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are.
ṛṣibhir bahudhā gītaṁ chandobhir vividhaiḥ pṛthak I brahma-sūtra padaiś caiva hetumadbhir viniścitaiḥ II 13.5
13.5 That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is described by various sages with chants in the scriptures It is presented with all reasoning as to cause and effect.
mahā-bhūtāny ahaṅkāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca I indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca pañca cendriya gocarāḥ II 13.6
icchādveṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṅghātaścetanā dhṛtiḥ I etatkṣetraṁ samāsena savikāram udāhṛtam II 13.7
13.6,7 The field of activities and its interactions are said to be: the five elements of nature, ego, intelligence, the mind, the formless, the ten senses of perception and action, as well as the five objects of senses and desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions.
amānitvam adambhitvam ahiṁsā kṣāntir ārjavam I ācāryopāsanaṁ śaucaṁ sthairyam ātma-vinigrahaḥ II 13.8
indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahaṁkāra eva ca I janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi- duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam II 13.9
asaktir anabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putra-dāra-gṛhādiṣu I nityaṁ ca sama-cittatvam iṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu II 13.10
mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī I vivikta-deśa-sevitvam aratirjana saṁsadi II 13.11
adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvaṁ tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam I etaj-jñānam iti proktam ajñānaṁ yad atonyathā II 13.12
13.8,9,10,11,12 Humility, absence of pride, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, service to an enlightened spiritual Master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of ego, the perception of the pain of the cycle of birth and death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest and even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self realization, and philosophical search for the absolute truth: All these I thus declare to be knowledge and anything contrary to these is ignorance.
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute I anādi matparaṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad ucyate II 13.13
13.13 I shall fully give you the understanding about the knowable with which one can taste eternal bliss or the being or the consciousness that has no beginning. A life beyond the law of cause and effect and the material world.
sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṁ tat sarvato 'kṣiśiromukham I sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhati II 13.14
13.14 With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears everywhere, He exists in the worlds, enveloping all. The Paramātman (supreme spirit) is all pervading. He exists everywhere.
sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṁ sarvendriya-vivarjitam I asaktaṁ sarva-bhṛccaiva nirguṇaṁ guṇabhoktṛ ca II 13.15
13.15 The Paramātman is the original source of all the senses. Yet, He is beyond all the senses. He is unattached. Although the consciousness is the maintainer of all the living beings, yet He transcends the modes of the nature and at the same time He is the master of the modes of our material nature.
bahir antaśca bhūtānām acaraṁ carameva ca I sūkṣmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ dūrasthaṁ cāntike ca tat II 13.16
13.16 The Supreme Truth exists both interally and externally, in the moving and the nonmoving. It is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know Him. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.
avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktamiva ca sthitam I bhūta-bhartṛ ca tajjñeyaṁ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca II 13.17
13.17 Although the Paramātman appears to be divided, He is the indivisible Whole. He is situated as one. Though He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to be understood that He consumes and creates all.
jyotiṣām api tajjyotis tamasaḥ paramucyate I jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ jñāna-gamyaṁ hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam II 13.18
13.18 He is the source of light in all-luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is formless. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone's heart.
iti kṣetraṁ tathā jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ co 'ktaṁ samāsataḥ I madbhakta etadvijñāya madbhāvāyopapadyate II 13.19
13.19 Thus the field of activities, knowledge and the knowable has been summarily described by Me. It is only when we can understand the true nature of our Supreme Self and the material world with which we have created false identities that we can go beyond this and attain the Supreme Self itself.
prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhyanādī ubhāvapi I vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva viddhi prakṛti saṁbhavān II 13.20
13.20 Prakṛti or the field and its attributes and the Puruṣa or the knower or the Supreme Consciousness are both without beginning. All the transformations of nature that we see are produced by the field or prakṛti.
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtirucyate I puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve heturucyate II 13.21
13.21 In the production of the body and the senses, prakṛti is said to be the cause; In the experience of pleasure and pain, Puruṣa is said to be the cause.
puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān-guṇān I kāraṇaṁ guṇasaṇgosya sadasadyonijanmasu II 13.22
13.22 The living entity in the material nature follows the way of life, enjoying the moods of nature. Due to association with the material nature it meets the good or evil among various species.
upadraṣṭānumantā ca bhartā bhoktā maheśvaraḥ I paramātmeti cāpyukto dehe'sminpuruṣaḥ paraḥ II 13.23
13.23 Yet, in this body there is a transcendental energy. He who is divine, who exists as a owner or the witness, supporter, enjoyer and the pure witnessing consciousness, is known as the Paramātman.
ya evaṁ vetti puruṣaṁ prakṛtiṁ ca guṇaiḥ saha I sarvathā vartamānopi na sa bhūyobhijāyate II 13.24
13.24 One who understands this philosophy concerning material nature, the living entity and the interaction of the modes of nature is sure to attain liberation. He will not take birth here again, regardless of his present position.
dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecidātmānamātmanā I anye sāṅkhyena yogena karmayogena cāpare II 13.25
13.25 Some perceive the Paramātman in their inner psyche through mind and intellect that have been purified by meditation or by metaphysical knowledge [sāṅkhya yoga], and others through working without fruitive desire [karma yoga].
anye tv evam ajānantaḥ śrutvānyebhya upāsate I te 'pi 'cātitaranty eva mṛtyuṁ śrutiparāyaṇāḥ II 13.26
13.26 There are those who, though not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme personality upon hearing about Him from others. Through the process of hearing about the Supreme Self, they also transcend the path of birth and death.
yāvatsañjāyate kiñcit sattvaṁ sthāvarajaṅgamam I kṣetra-kṣetrajña-saṁyogāt tadviddhi bharatarṣabha II 13.27
13.27 Bhārata, know that whatever you see in Existence, both the movable or the immovable, comes into being, only by the union of kṣetra, the field and kṣetrajña, the knower of the field.
samaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṁ parameśvaram I vinaśyatsv-avinaśyantaṁ yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati II 13.28
13.28 One who sees the Supreme Spirit [Parameśvara] accompanying the individual soul in all bodies, who understands that neither the individual soul nor the Supreme Spirit is ever destroyed, he actually sees.
samaṁ paśyanhi sarvatra samavasthitamīsvaram I na hinastyātmanā 'tmanaṁ tato yāti parāṁ gatim II 13.29
13.29 When one does not get degraded or influenced by the mind and when he can see the Supreme Spirit in all living and non-living things, One reaches the transcendental destination.
prakṛtyaiva ca karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni sarvaśaḥ I yaḥ paśyati tathātmānam akartāraṁ sa paśyati II 13.30
13.30 One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature, sees that the Self does nothing, he actually sees.
yadā bhūta-pṛthag-bhāvam ekasthamanupaśyati I tata eva ca vistāraṁ brahma saṁpadyate tadā II 13.31
13.31 When a person can see the Supreme Self in all living entities, then he will cease to see the separateness among the living entities. He will see that the whole Universe (Brahman) is an expansion and expression of the same truth.
anāditvānnirguṇa tvāt paramātmāyamavyayaḥ I śarīrastho'pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate II 13.32
13.32 Those with the vision of eternity can see that the soul is transcendental, eternal, and beyond the modes of nature. Despite contact with the material body, O Arjuna, the soul neither does anything nor is attached.
yathā sarvagataṁ saukṣmyād ākāśaṁ nopalipyate I sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate II 13.33
13.33 The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all-pervading. Similarly, the soul, situated in Brahman, does not mix with the body, though situated in that body.
yathā prakāśayatyekaḥ kṛtsnaṁ lokamimaṁ raviḥ I kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ prakāśayati bhārata II 13.34
13.34 O son of Bhārata, as the Sun alone illumines the entire Universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illumines the entire consciousness.
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor evam antaraṁ jñāna-cakṣuṣā I bhūta-prakṛti-mokṣaṁ ca ye viduryānti te param II 13.35
13.35 Those, who see with the eyes of knowledge, the difference between the body-mind, kṣetra and the knower of the body-mind, kṣetrajña, can understand the process of liberation from the bondages of the material nature and attain Paramātman.
iti śrīmad bhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyām yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjuna saṁvāde kṣetra kṣetrajña vibhāgayogo nāma trayodaśo'dhyāyaḥ II
In the Upaniṣad of Śrimad Bhagavad Gītā, the scripture of yoga dealing with Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the science of Brahman, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṁvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa-Arjuna, this is thirteenth chapter named, Kṣetra Kṣetrajña Vibhāga Yogaḥ, 'the Field and Kṣetrajña, the Knower of the Field.' n this chapter, Kṛṣṇa speaks to enrich Arjuna about kṣetra (Field) and kṣetrajña (Knower of the Field).
I Kṛṣṇa clearly talks about the physical matter in which we exist and the Consciousness that stays in the matter. The whole Universe, the Universal Consciousness, is the space in which we all happen. Kṛṣṇa uses the wave and the ocean as an analogy. The ocean is the Universal consciousness, Ātma or Brahman. Kṛṣṇa reveals the secret that we are like the waves, and the whole is the ocean. He explains how we can experience completion with the ocean.
We have forgotten that we are a part of the ocean, that we belong to kṣetrajña. Kṣetrajña means Consciousness, the cause for the field. Kṣetra means field, the body-mind and kṣetrajña means knower of the field, the Consciousness. Kṛṣṇa reveals the sacred secrets of kṣetra and kṣetrajñya. If we don't know the secrets of kṣetrajña, the kṣetra acts as if it is the owner.
What You Know Is Not You (13.1-13.7)
Kṛṣṇa explains, 'O Kaunteya, this body is called the field, kṣetra; the person who knows this body is called the knower of the field or kṣetrajña (13.1).'
Whatever you know is not you. For instance, you can read this book because it is separate and apart from you. If you can know your body, then it is not you. If you can know your thoughts, then they are not you. You are separate or above that. That is why you are able to know it. Once we separate these two, the body will be complete, blissful and joyful! Consciousness will be liberated. When these two join, that is where the problem starts.
Kṛṣṇa starts to explain the difference between kṣetra and kṣetrajña. When we understand that something is separate from us, we never feel that we must renounce it. We simply need to renounce the inadequate cognition that we are that thing, that's all.
Here, Kṛṣṇa makes two statements. He says, 'I am the Knower in all the bodies, kṣetrajñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi and to understand the knower and the body is knowledge, kṣetra kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ (13.3).' He says, 'I Myself reside as the Consciousness inside the beings, sarva kṣetreṣu bhārata.' Our Consciousness is God. There is no separate thing as God. A person who carries the right cognition that he is Consciousness liberates himself.
You Are Consciousness, Kṣetrajña
Whether we believe it or not, we are Consciousness, the knower, kṣetrajña. A person who has already experienced that he is Consciousness enriches us saying, 'This is Consciousness and that is body-mind. Understand, you are Consciousness.' Here, the same story is happening between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.
``` Kṛṣṇa details out the five great elements, the false ego, the intelligence or the mind that makes decisions and all ten senses. He says, 'ten senses, indriyāṇi daśakaṁ ca'. We have five karmendriya and five jñānendriya. Karmendriya are the senses or organs responsible for actions. Jñānendriya are our five senses that receive knowledge such as smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing. So, all the ten senses, plus attachment, aversion, joy, sorrow, the body, mutual attraction and the Consciousness contribute to the field of activities.
Inner Science Technology (13.8-13.12)
In these five verses, Kṛṣṇa gives the inner science technology to liberate our inner space! A precise technique to liberate oneself from the kṣetra, the body-mind.
First, the moment we understand that we are more powerful than the body-mind, we are liberated from the body-mind.
Kṛṣṇa mentions a long list of qualities with many instructions. Humility, non-violence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching the enlightened spiritual master....many more qualities. He declares all these to be knowledge and besides these, whatever there may be, is ignorance.
If we straightaway practice these qualities, we will feel we are going mad! All we can do is help the Consciousness to happen in us so that we start radiating these qualities. If we work on our being, we will flower and simply radiate the right energy, the right Consciousness!
Consciousness Is Eternal (13.13-13.18)
Kṛṣṇa says, 'I shall explain the knowable, knowing which, you will taste the Eternal Being, the beginning-less consciousness that lies beyond the causes and effects of this material world.' Now, He reveals to Arjuna that Consciousness is eternal.
The Master Exists Everywhere
When we are in front of an Enlightened Master, who is in a no-mind state of completion, the thoughts in us just comes down. So without even trying, we become calmer, more peaceful, and more complete!
Please listen! Every thought inside us affects the functioning of the whole Cosmos. Thoughts present in the space that we live in affect our mental setup. Positivity and negativity, creation and destruction, are all properties of the changing world, of the kṣetra that we live in. The minute we know that we are not this changing kṣetra but the eternal and unmoving kṣetrajñya (consciousness*)*, we are liberated.
Kṛṣṇa calls this eternal bliss, jñeya, knowable. When the knowing happens, the knowable (jñeya), knower (jñātā), and the knowledge (jñāna) merge. In this experience, the knower, known, and knowledge become one. No separate experience, experiencer or object of experience exists. It is called tripuṭi.
Kṛṣṇa explaines that His eternal nature, the eternal Self, is not bound by time and space. Now He says that He exists everywhere, sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati (13.14). Normally we understand the presence or absence of an object or person in terms of physical attributes. If our pañca indriya, five senses, cannot sense anything, we think nothing exists.
Here, Kṛṣṇa uses the phrase, 'Hands and feet everywhere, sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ, eyes, heads, faces, ears everywhere, sarvato akṣi-śiromukham (13.14).' What does He mean by this? Listen. Enlightened Master is more present in His absence than in His physical presence. His energy is beyond time and space, beyond any barriers.
Kṛṣṇa further gives qualities of the Self. He says all life happens because of the thread of the Universal energy flowing through. The life force that conducts the whole show of the Universe, is pure Intelligence. Even a blade of grass cannot move without the will of the Divine. Kṛṣṇa is sending a message to us about how much we depend on Him, the Cosmic Intelligence, for anything to happen. At the same time, without getting involved, the Universal energy is a witness to all activities and all life forms.
The Indivisible Space Within
You live in this space enclosed by your physical boundary called ghaṭākāśa. The next is cidākāśa, the space that you are aware and conscious of, the space of thoughts and mind. The third is mahākāśa, the whole space, cosmos, everything put together. The problem is, we think Consciousness is bound by ghaṭākāśa, limited to this body.
Enlightened Masters, Incarnations, who have moved beyond ghaṭākāśa into mahākāśa, understand that all this division of space is due to our ignorance.
Space can never be divided. All fears, including the fear of death, happen because we try to protect the space covered by our body and mind. When we understand that we are mahākāśa, we transcend all boundaries. Whatever space we may be in, the possibility of achieving a higher space is available to every one of us. Kṛṣṇa says that the Supreme truth is inside and outside all living entities, bahir antaś ca bhūtānām. It is moving and non-moving, acaraṁ caram eva ca (13.16). This is the absolute space of mahākāśa.
I am the Source of All Light
When the same Universal energy is unmanifest, unexpressed, it exists in potential form. This is referred to as Puruṣa in the scriptures. When this energy manifests itself in this world, taking various names, forms, and shapes, it expresses itself as Prakṛti. Prakṛti is the creative expression of Puruṣa.
Kṛṣṇa reminds Arjuna that the Supreme Spirit appears to be divided into puruṣa and prakṛti because of the different creations and expressions of prakṛti. However, He is beyond all this and exists undivided.
Kṛṣṇa says, 'He is the Supreme Self that is the source of all light in all luminous objects. He is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge, jñanaṁ jñeyaṁ jñana-gamyaṁ. He is situated in everyone's heart, hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam (13.18).' Kṛṣṇa calls this Self the 'Source of light—jyotiṣam api taj jyotis'. The sun, the moon and lightning derive their energy from that self-luminous Self.
The Self is pure intelligence and this knowledge dispels ignorance. An Enlightened Master uses the lamp of Consciousness to see the truth as it is, without any filters. Using this lamp, he experiences his surroundings in completion with the whole. That is why the Master sees 360 degrees around him. Focus on bringing the lamp into your being. When your entire Consciousness has become a flame, the ego is no more.
Understanding The Energy (13.19-13.24)
Only when we understand the kṣetra, do we understand that we are not the kṣetra; we are the kṣetrajña. When we realize that we are the kṣetrajña, we have transcended the kṣetra.
How do we understand the kṣetra? Only an Enlightened Master who has experienced the truth can awaken us to reality. Out of their compassion, these Masters descend on planet Earth to tell us that everything we see around us is a projection of our minds.
Kṛṣṇa says, 'Go beyond and beyond and beyond. When you are able to see the body, move beyond. If you are able to witness your thoughts, go further beyond. If you are able to witness your emotions, go further beyond. You are not that either.'
Witness the Consciousness that is witnessing. When you watch, detach from the thoughts, sit back, relax and watch. Do not try to create, nourish or destroy the thoughts. This last thought that you are witnessing is like a bridge between you and God, between you and the thoughtless space of completion. Go beyond. Witness the thought that you are witnessing. Then the pure, untouched, inner space of completion happens in you, where God manifests. Understand, Completion is God.
Witnessing is the Master Key
Here Kṛṣṇa presents the master key that opens all locks. Witnessing the body and the mind, witnessing your being. Witnessing is the master key. If we can enter the witnessing technique and experience the witnessing space of completion for at least a few minutes, we will get a taste of it.
Kṛṣṇa goes one step further. Now, He says that one who does so attains liberation, regardless of his present position, sarvathā vartamāno 'pi na sa bhūyo 'bhijāyate (13.24). An understanding of kṣetra or prakṛti straightaway liberates us.
All our incompletions arise due to the ignorance of our true nature. A cognitive shift happens that transforms and frees us from the bondage of material things. This cognitive shift can happen at any time, to anyone. And when it happens, it is a quantum jump in the level of consciousness. It is spontaneous enlightenment, not gradual. It is like pressing a switch and the whole room is lit up in one shot.
Your Cognition is Transformable, Be Complete
Understand, your cognition is changeable, transformable is the first cognition you need. Whenever people realize that they are beyond the bondages of body and mind, that their cognition is changeable, spontaneous Enlightenment happens. Just know your incompletions with this clarity that cognition is changeable, the incompletions of kṣetra will lose power over you. With this understanding of kṣetrajña, start living and thinking. Your very thinking will be completion. This is the science of spontaneous completion, instant completion.
Completion does not mean blindly accepting everything that happens in your life, in the kṣetra. It simply means not resisting life as it happens to us. The root of all our incompletions is the idea we carry—Life should not be this way.
Many People, Many Paths (13.25-13.27)
Kṛṣṇa now gives different techniques, like meditation, yoga, knowledge. You see, all the techniques must be done out of completion. Kṛṣṇa gives it as a path to attain the Ultimate Consciousness. Kṛṣṇa talks about sāṅkhyena, through knowledge or philosophical discussion. He says you can attain the goal using knowledge. He gives a wonderful, ultimate technique, the technique of surrendering. He says, 'Surrender the outcome of your actions to Me.' This is the most effective technique throughout the Gītā.
Just surrender the fruits of your actions to Him, the Universal Consciousness. Just surrender everything to the Cosmic energy of Kṛṣṇa. Once we do, we will feel liberated. This is the easiest path to reach the truth.
Whatever you see is a combination of matter and energy. The whole Universe is seen as kṣetra and kṣetrajña, māyā and ātman, prakṛti and puruṣa, matter and energy, body-mind and Consciousness. Existence, as we see it, cannot be with only one of them. If we believe that what we see is simply matter, we are in illusion or māyā.
Prakṛti is the manifest, gross and puruṣa is the unmanifest, subtle. So, the combination of kṣetra and kṣetrajña is necessary. Kṣetra and kṣetrajña are not separate entities. For existence to happen, both the subtle and gross forms must be there.
We Are Brahman (13.28-13.31)
Kṛṣṇa says, 'Anyone who has reached Self-realization or the Ultimate Consciousness sees that the Supreme Self is present in all living and non-living entities. He perceives the Supreme Self as the indestructible, beginning-less witnessing consciousness.'
The Existence we see is not comprised of individual entities. In reality, we are all in oneness. The same Supreme Self, Parameśvara that Kṛṣṇa speaks about is present in us and in everything we see around us.
We are all Brahman. God is everywhere. Divine energy fills all places. We see God as someone different. We create a big gap between God and us. We have confidence that the Supreme Spirit , Param Īśvara will take care of us, but we do not believe that the same Supreme Spirit is in us also!
Everything Is The Supreme Spirit, Parameśvara
Our body is the temple of our Soul. We should look at our body with gratitude, not greed. We should thank our body, prakṛti for holding our spirit, our soul, ātma. Kṛṣṇa says the soul, ātma that is in us and the soul, ātma that is in others is the Supreme Spirit and the Supreme Soul. But we isolate our soul. We define a boundary for our soul and separate it from the Supreme Spirit, Parameśvara.
'When we see that the Supreme Soul that resides in us and in everything around us, samaṁ sarveśu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhaṁ parameśvara, is indestructible, avinaśyantam, we see the truth (13.28).'
Here Kṛṣṇa says, whatever we think we are enjoying, actually it is the body that is enjoying all the material comforts. Our soul is Pure Consciousness. Kṛṣṇa gives us a technique here. He says, when we watch our body enjoying and associating with the sense pleasures and external material comforts, and not our Soul, we see the Truth, yaḥ paśyati sa paśyati. You will see that your Soul has nothing to do with the pleasures you are enjoying.
When you do this, you witness your body and mind as an outsider. Kṛṣṇa gives the great truth of Advaita (non-duality) in this verse. When we see the Supreme Soul in all living beings, we no longer see the separateness. We see the whole Universe as one single body expressing the same truth of oneness. We see that everything is Pure Consciousness and experience the space of non-duality, Advaita. We see that the whole Universe is the expansion of the same Consciousness—tata eva ca vistāraṁ brahma sampadyate tadā (13.31). This is Kṛṣṇa's message.
Soul Situated in Body Does Nothing (13.32-13.35)
Kṛṣṇa again reminds about the true nature of the Self. He tells Arjuna that the Soul is free, eternal and transcendental. Though the Soul has come into contact with the material body, it still is free. It is like the lotus plant in a lake. Water droplets fall on the lotus leaves do not get attached to the leaves. They simply roll off and merge with the water again. Same way, the Soul that rests inside this body is completely free from worldly joys and sorrows, like the drops of water. The soul, Ātma can simply merge into the Supreme Soul, Paramātma.
Kṛṣṇa says that just as the sun illuminates our whole world, one Supreme Self, Paramātma; that is one kṣetrajña, illuminates all beings in the Universe, animate or inanimate. Everything has the same Consciousness which lights up the entire Universe. Just as the Sun illumines the Universe, the Soul in this body illumines not only this body, but also everything surrounding it, the entire Universe (13.34).
Kṣetri is the Self. This Self illumines all the kṣetra, all the bodies. Not just our body or kṣetra is illumined but all the kṣetras are illumined. So there is no separation between the Consciousness in our body and in a plant or a rock. Everything is the same energy.
Actually, soul and Supreme Soul, ātma and parmātma, are not two separate entities. There is only Soul. Here Kṛṣṇa ends by saying, 'If we can witness as pure consciousness, we will be liberated from the bondages of the body-mind and achieve the eternal consciousness.' ```
Becoming the witness of the kṣetra is the only way to keep us away from the bondages of the body-mind. We must witness as the kṣetrajña, Consciousness. Witness the mind like a friend with integrity. Just witness and be complete. Witnessing acts like fire. All the thoughts are burned away and what remains is the pure space of completion.
The ultimate expression of our being happens when we are Whole. Whenever we are whole, we are holy. Witnessing consciousness or being in the space of completion is the only path to Wholeness or Holiness.
Let us pray to Parabrahman, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Universal Consciousness, to give us the space of completion, the pure witnessing consciousness; to give us the ultimate experience and establish us in eternal bliss.