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Chapter 13 · Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness · 35 verses

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Soul & knowledgeChapter 13 · Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 13.1

The body, its knower and the field of knowledge

अर्जुन उवाच

प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च ।

एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव ॥ १ ॥

श्रीभगवानुवाच

इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते ।

एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहु: क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विद: ॥ २ ॥

arjuna uvāca

prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva

kṣetraṁ kṣetra-jñam eva ca

etad veditum icchāmi

jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ ca keśava

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya

kṣetram ity abhidhīyate

etad yo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ

kṣetra-jña iti tad-vidaḥ

Translation

Arjuna said: O my dear Kṛṣṇa, I wish to know about prakṛti [nature], puruṣa [the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge. The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

The Body and Its Knower

  1. 1Arjuna asks Kṛṣṇa about nature, the enjoyer, the field and its knower, knowledge, and the object of knowledge.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that the body is the soul’s field of activity, and the soul, its knower, is different from it.
  3. 3Consider how your body changes as you grow, while you remain the same person. This helps you understand that you are not the body.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 13, Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness: the body, its knower and the field of knowledge.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Discern the eternal self from the temporary.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: ātmā, jñāna.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 13.1 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to soul & knowledge?

Practice

Spend five minutes reflecting on what in you does not change.

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The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 13 ›
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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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