Bhagavad Gita 13.1
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 1 of 34 · Arjuna's Journey
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च। एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव ॥
prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva kṣetraṃ kṣetrajñameva ca| etadveditumicchāmi jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ ca keśava ||
I wish to know prakṛti and puruṣa, the field and its knower, knowledge and the Knowable — O Keśava!
Word by word (3)
- prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva kṣetraṃ kṣetrajñam eva ca
- — Prakṛti and puruṣa, as well as the field and the knower of the field · prakṛtiṃ = nature, the primordial material ground (pra = forth + kṛti = making; prakṛti = the original making-forth = primordial matter/nature; in Sāṃkhya philosophy: the unmanifest root of all manifest existence; the material cause of the universe — inert but dynamic; has three guṇas: sattva, rajas, tamas). puruṣam = the person, the conscious principle (from √pṛ = to fill; puruṣa = that which fills [the body] = the indwelling spirit/consciousness; in Sāṃkhya: the pure witness-consciousness that is unmoved; in Vedanta: Brahman-as-ātman). kṣetram = the field (from √kṣi = to decay/diminish OR √kṣit = land/ground; kṣetra = that which decays/wears out = the body-field; or 'the cultivated field' = that in which karma grows). kṣetrajñam = the knower of the field (kṣetra + jña = field + one who knows; the knowing-subject that inhabits the body-field; distinguished from the field itself). Together: four terms in two pairs, with 'caiva' and 'eva ca' as connectors. Arjuna is asking about two pairs simultaneously.
- etad veditum icchāmi jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ ca keśava
- — I wish to know all this — knowledge and the Knowable — O Keśava · etad = all this (demonstrative; refers back to prakṛti, puruṣa, kṣetra, kṣetrajña — all four terms together). veditum = to know, to learn (infinitive of √vid = to know; veditum = to come-to-know). icchāmi = I wish (1st person singular of √iṣ = to desire/wish; icchāmi = 'I am desiring/wishing' — this is Arjuna's learning orientation, his thirst for understanding). jñānam = knowledge (from √jñā = to know; jñāna = the act and content of knowing; here specifically: the jñāna that liberates). jñeyam = the Knowable (jñeya = that which ought to be known, that which IS to be known = the object of true knowledge = Brahman/ātman). ca = and. keśava = O Keśava (Kṛṣṇa's name: keśa = hair/radiance + va = possessing; 'the one with beautiful/radiant locks'; one of Kṛṣṇa's most used epithets in dialogue). Ch.13 opens with three paired questions: prakṛti-puruṣa (matter-spirit), kṣetra-kṣetrajña (field-knower), jñāna-jñeya (knowledge-Knowable). The entire chapter answers these three pairs in order.
- etad veditum icchāmi (zoomed)
- — I wish to know this · The phrase 'etad veditum icchāmi' is Arjuna's characteristic opening — the student explicitly stating the desire to know. Icchā (wish/desire to know) is different from jijñāsā (burning curiosity to know). Here it is a formal request. In the Gita's structure, Arjuna's questions have consistently grown more metaphysical: Ch.1 was about the ethics of battle; Ch.2 asked about grief and duty; Ch.3 asked about the superiority of jñāna vs. karma; Ch.12 asked about saguna vs. nirguna bhaktas. Ch.13's question is the most philosophically precise: six technical terms from Sāṃkhya-Vedanta, asking about the structure of existence itself. Arjuna has grown as a student.
Nature and the spirit, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and what is to be known — all this I wish to understand, O Keśava.
A modern analogy
Like a student who's been in a course all semester and finally asks: 'So what IS reality — what is it made of? Who is observing it? And how do we truly know anything?' Ch.13 is the Gita's answer to those three foundational questions of philosophy.
Sit with this: Arjuna asks about three paired terms: matter/spirit, field/knower, knowledge/Knowable. Why do you think these come in pairs rather than single concepts? What does it tell us about how the Gita understands reality — always in relationship between two poles?
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
[V1 Arjuna's question: absent in SH indexed] [1]
[V1 Arjuna's question: absent in some editions; SW and Ganguli begin with Krishna's answer as V1. Present in many standard editions including this project's 34-verse count.] [4]
Arjuna. Now, RADIANT LORD! I would know / More of two themes: NATURE, and what is called / The Soul in man; Knowledge, and that which is / The object of all knowledge. [7]
[V1 Arjuna's question: prakṛti, puruṣa, kṣetra, kṣetrajña, jñāna, jñeya — the six foundational terms Arjuna seeks to understand before Krishna's exposition begins.] [9]
[Arjuna's question not separately numbered in Ganguli; chapter opens with The Holy One said.] [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sankhya gave the map. Now hear Yoga — the vehicle by which you break free from the bonds of karma.
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, ego — these eight are the divisions of My lower nature.
The field, knowledge, and the Knowable stated — the devotee who grasps all three attains Krishna's own nature.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
Verse 1 of 34 · back to Chapter 13