Chapter 13. Nature, the
Enjoyer, and Consciousness
Chapter 13, Verse 1-2.
 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.
Chapter 13, Verse 3.
O scion
of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies,
and to understand this body and its owner is called knowledge. That is
My opinion.
Chapter 13, Verse 4.
Now please
hear My brief description of this field of activity and how it is constituted,
what its changes are, whence it is produced, who that knower of the field
of activities is, and what his influences are.
Chapter 13, Verse 5.
That
knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is
described by various sages in various Vedic writings--especially in the
Vedanta-sutra--and is presented with all reasoning as to cause and effect.
Chapter 13, Verse 6-7.
The five
great elements, false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the ten senses,
the mind, the five sense objects, desire, hatred, happiness, distress,
the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions--all these are considered,
in summary, to be the field of activities and its interactions.
Chapter 13, Verse 8-12.
Humility,
pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide
spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation
of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception
of the evil of birth, 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 what is contrary to these is
ignorance.
Chapter 13, Verse 13.
I shall
now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. This
is beginningless, and it is subordinate to Me. It is called Brahman, the
spirit, and it lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.
Chapter 13, Verse 14.
Everywhere
are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In
this way the Supersoul exists.
Chapter 13, Verse 15.
The Supersoul
is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached,
although He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes
of nature, and at the same time He is the master of all modes of material
nature.
Chapter 13, Verse 16.
The Supreme
Truth exists both internally and externally, in the moving and nonmoving.
He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although
far, far away, He is also near to all.
Chapter 13, Verse 17.
Although
the Supersoul appears to be divided, He is never divided. He is situated
as one. Although He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to
be understood that He devours and develops all.
Chapter 13, Verse 18.
He is
the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness
of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge,
and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone's heart.
Chapter 13, Verse 19.
Thus
the field of activities [the body], knowledge and the knowable have been
summarily described by Me. Only My devotees can understand this thoroughly
and thus attain to My nature.
Chapter 13, Verse 20.
Material
nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless.
Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material
nature.
Chapter 13, Verse 21.
Nature
is said to be the cause of all material activities and effects, whereas
the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments
in this world.
Chapter 13, Verse 22.
The living
entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three
modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature.
Thus he meets with good and evil amongst various species.
Chapter 13, Verse 23.
Yet in
this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer who is the Lord, the
supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is
known as the Supersoul.
Chapter 13, Verse 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.
Chapter 13, Verse 25.
That
Supersoul is perceived by some through meditation, by some through the
cultivation of knowledge, and by others through working without fruitive
desire.
Chapter 13, Verse 26.
Again
there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin
to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because
of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path
of birth and death.
Chapter 13, Verse 27.
O chief
of the Bharatas, whatever you see in existence, both moving and unmoving,
is only the combination of the field of activities and the knower of the
field.
Chapter 13, Verse 28.
One who
sees the Supersoul accompanying the individual soul in all bodies, and
who understands that neither the soul nor the Supersoul is ever destroyed,
actually sees.
Chapter 13, Verse 29.
One who
sees the Supersoul in every living being and equal everywhere does not
degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the transcendental destination.
Chapter 13, Verse 30.
One who
can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created
of material nature, and sees that the self does nothing, actually sees.
Chapter 13, Verse 31.
When
a sensible man ceases to see different identities, which are due to different
material bodies, he attains to the Brahman conception. Thus he sees that
beings are expanded everywhere.
Chapter 13, Verse 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 entangled.
Chapter 13, Verse 33.
The sky,
due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all-pervading.
Similarly, the soul, situated in Brahman vision, does not mix with the
body, though situated in that body.
Chapter 13, Verse 34.
O son
of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the
living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.
Chapter 13, Verse 35.
One who
knowingly sees this difference between the body and the owner of the body
and can understand the process of liberation from this bondage, also attains
to the supreme goal.
  
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