Bhagavad Gita 13.2
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 2 of 34
इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते।एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः ॥
idaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetramityabhidhīyate|etadyo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ ||
This body is called kṣetra (the field); the one who knows it is called kṣetrajña — the field-knower!
Word by word (3)
- idaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate
- — This body, O son of Kunti, is called kṣetra (the field) · idam = this (demonstrative pronoun; pointing at the immediate, embodied reality — 'this here' = the very body of the listener). śarīraṃ = body (from √śṛ = to decay, to fall apart; śarīra = that which decays/falls = the body as a temporary composite structure; the word itself contains the teaching — the body is called kṣetra BECAUSE it decays, because it is the field in which karma plants seeds and reaps results). kaunteya = O son of Kunti (Arjuna; Kuntī's son; the address is familial and warm). kṣetram = the field (from kṣi = to decay; or kṣit = cultivated land; kṣetra = the agricultural field = that which is cultivated = the body as the field in which the soul works out its karma). iti = thus, with this meaning. abhidhīyate = is called, is spoken of (passive of abhi + √dhā = to name, to designate; 'it is designated as'). The equation is direct: idaṃ śarīram = this body = kṣetra = the field. Not just the physical body: kṣetra will expand to include all 24 tattvas of Sāṃkhya (V5-V6) — the full apparatus of matter, senses, intellect, and ego.
- etad yo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tad-vidaḥ
- — The one who knows this — the knowers call him 'kṣetrajña' (knower of the field) · etad = this (refers to kṣetra = the body/field). yo vetti = who knows (yo = relative pronoun 'who'; vetti = 3rd person singular of √vid = to know; who-knows). taṃ = him (accusative; the one who knows). prāhuḥ = they call, they say (3rd plural of √brū = to speak; prāhuḥ = the learned ones call/declare). kṣetrajñaḥ = field-knower (kṣetra + jña = field + one who knows; the conscious knowing subject who inhabits and knows the body-field; the ātman in its function as witness-of-the-body). iti = with this meaning/name. tad-vidaḥ = those who know this, the knowers (tad = that; vid = who know; tad-vidaḥ = those who know that truth = the teachers of this tradition). Two entities: the field (śarīra) and the field-knower (ātman). The body changes constantly; the knower-within watches without changing. This is the foundational duality that Ch.13 analyzes.
- kṣetra / kṣetrajña (paired analysis)
- — the field (body-matter) / the knower of the field (consciousness) · The kṣetra-kṣetrajña distinction is the Ch.13 version of the body-soul, matter-spirit, object-subject distinction. Kṣetra = everything that can be observed, measured, analyzed — it includes not just the physical body but also the mind, intellect, senses, and ego (as V5-V6 will show). Kṣetrajña = the one for whom all of this appears = pure consciousness = ātman. The significance: EVERYTHING observable — including your thoughts, emotions, memories — is kṣetra (the field). What KNOWS all of this is kṣetrajña. The question 'who am I?' is answered: you are not the field (kṣetra) but the knower of the field (kṣetrajña). This teaching will culminate in 13.27-28 where the one who sees kṣetrajña in every kṣetra is declared to be the one who truly sees.
This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field; and the one who knows it, the wise call the knower of the field.
A modern analogy
Like the screen and the movie: the movie (kṣetra) changes constantly — action, color, sound, drama. But the screen (kṣetrajña) doesn't change; it simply 'knows' (displays) whatever appears. You've been so absorbed in the movie that you forgot you're the screen. Ch.13 is the teaching that reminds you.
Sit with this: This verse says the body is the 'field.' The word kṣetra also means agricultural field — land in which things grow. What grows in the body-field? Is the Gita saying the body is like soil — neutral, capable of growing both weeds (karma) and crops (dharma)?
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
[V2 = SW 13.1 in SH-aligned editions; MISSING from SH indexed as 13.2] [1]
This body, O son of Kunti, is called Kshetra, and he who knows it is called Kshetrajna by those who know of them (Kshetra and Kshetrajna). [4]
This body, Arjun! is called Kshetra, 'the field'; / He who doth know it, hath the name of 'Knower of the field,' / Ksheyrajna. Yea, O Bharata! I am that Knower in all fields. [7]
This body, O son of Kunti! is called Kshetra, and the learned call him who knows it the Kshetrajña. [9]
This body, O son of Kunti, is called Kshetra. Him who knows it, the learned call Kshetrajna. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Every being born — moving or unmoving — arises from the union of kṣetra and kṣetrajña alone.
That which pervades everything cannot be destroyed — nothing and no one has the power to end it.
Two puruṣas: kṣara (all mutable beings) and akṣara (kūṭastha, immutable ground) — both about to be transcended.
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
The soul does not slay, and cannot be slain — both the slayer and the slain have mistaken the soul for the body.
Verse 2 of 34 · back to Chapter 13