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TEXT 1-2 arjuna uvaca
sri-bhagavan uvaca
SYNONYMS  arjunah uvaca--Arjuna
said; prakrtim--nature; purusam--the enjoyer; ca--also;
eva--certainly;
ksetram--body; ksetra-jnam--knower of the body; eva--certainly;
ca--also; etat--all this;
veditum--to understand;
icchami--I wish; jnanam--knowledge;
jneyam--the object
of knowledge; ca--also; kesava--O Krsna; sri-bhagavan
uvaca--the Personality of Godhead said; idam--this;
sariram--body;
kaunteya--O son of Kunti; ksetram--the field; iti--thus;
abhidhiyate--is called; etat--this;
yah--anyone; vetti--knows;
tam--he; prahuh--is called; ksetra-jnah--knower of
the body; iti--thus; tat-vidah--one who knows.
TRANSLATION Arjuna said:
O my dear Krsna, I wish to know about prakrti [nature], purusa [the enjoyer],
and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the end
of knowledge. The Blessed Lord then said: This body, O son of Kunti, is
called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the
field.
PURPORT Arjuna was inquisitive
about prakrtil, or nature, purusa, the enjoyer, ksetra,
the field, ksetra-jna, its knower, and of knowledge and the object
of knowledge. When he inquired about all these, Krsna said that this body
is called the field and that one who knows this body is called the knower
of the field. This body is the field of activity for the conditioned soul.
The conditioned soul is entrapped in material existence, and he attempts
to lord over material nature. And so, according to his capacity to dominate
material nature, he gets a field of activity. That field of activity is
the body. And what is the body? The body is made of senses. The conditioned
soul wants to enjoy sense gratification, and, according to his capacity
to enjoy sense gratification, he is offered a body, or field of activity.
Therefore the body is called ksetra, or the field of activity for
the conditioned soul. Now, the person who identifies himself with the body
is called ksetra-jna, the knower of the field. It is not very difficult
to understand the difference between the field and its knower, the body
and the knower of the body. Any person can consider that from childhood
to old age he undergoes so many changes of body and yet is still one person,
remaining. Thus there is a difference between the knower of the field of
activities and the actual field of activities. A living conditioned soul
can thus understand that he is different from the body. It is described
in the beginning--dehino 'smin--that the living entity is within
the body and that the body is changing from childhood to boyhood and from
boyhood to youth and from youth to old age, and the person who owns the
body knows that the body is changing. The owner is distinctly ksetrajna.
Sometimes we understand that I am happy, I am a mad, I am a woman, I am
a dog, I am a cat: these are the knowers. The knower is different from
the field. Although we use many articles--our clothes, etc.--we know that
we are different from the things used. Similarly, we also understand by
a little contemplation that we are different from the body.
In the first
six chapters of Bhagavad-gita, the knower of the body, the living
entity, and the position by which he can understand the Supreme Lord are
described. In the middle six chapters of the Gita, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead and the relationship between the individual soul and the Supersoul
in regard to devotional service are described. The superior position of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the subordinate position of the
individual soul are definitely defined in these chapters. The living entities
are subordinate under all circumstances, but in their forgetfulness they
are suffering. When enlightened by pious activities, they approach the
Supreme Lord in different capacities--as the distressed, those in want
of money, the inquisitive, and those in search of knowledge. That is also
described. Now, starting with the Thirteenth Chapter, how the living entity
comes in contact with material nature, how he is delivered by the Supreme
Lord through the different methods of fruitive activities, cultivation
of knowledge, and the discharge of devotional service are explained. Although
the living entity is completely different from the material body, he somehow
becomes related. This also is explained.
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