Bhagavad Gita 13.20
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 20 of 34
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्य् अनादी उभाव् अपि / विकारांश् च गुणांश् चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान्
prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva viddhy anādī ubhāv api / vikārāṃś ca guṇāṃś caiva viddhi prakṛti-sambhavān
Prakṛti and Puruṣa are both beginningless — all modifications and the three guṇas are born of prakṛti alone.
Word by word (3)
- prakṛtim puruṣam ca viddhi
- — know (viddhi = imperative of vid) that prakṛti (material nature, the field) and puruṣa (the Self/Spirit, the witness) — the two eternal principles of existence · Viddhi = know! (imperative). Prakṛti = the creative material energy, the source of all change; puruṣa = the unchanging conscious witness. This is the Gita's absorption of Sāṃkhya's two-principle framework into a Vedāntic context. Prakṛti = kṣetra (as taught earlier); puruṣa = kṣetrajña. The names change but the insight is the same.
- anādī ubhau api
- — both (ubhau) of them are indeed (api) beginningless (anādī = dual nominative of anādi = without beginning) · Anādi = that which has no ādi (beginning/origin). Both prakṛti and puruṣa are eternal — neither was created at some point in time. This prevents the question 'which came first?' Advaita notes: ultimately both are subsumed in Brahman (nirguna); their duality appears within the framework of vyavahāra (conventional reality). But for the practitioner, both are treated as real: the field is real enough to be worked with; the witness is real enough to be awakened to.
- vikārān ca guṇān ca prakṛti-sambhavān viddhi
- — know that all modifications (vikārān = transformations, phenomenal changes) and all qualities (guṇān = sattva-rajas-tamas) are born from/of prakṛti (prakṛti-sambhavān) · Vikāra = modification, transformation (all phenomenal change). Guṇa = the three constituent strands of prakṛti (sattva = clarity, rajas = activity, tamas = inertia). Prakṛti-sambhava = born from prakṛti (sambhava = origin, birth). The diagnostic principle: everything that changes (emotions, thoughts, sensations, events) belongs to prakṛti. The puruṣa never changes. This is the operational basis for kṣetra-kṣetrajña discrimination.
Know that both Nature and Spirit are without beginning; and know that the modifications and the qualities are born of Nature.
A modern analogy
A movie projector (prakṛti) projects all the images — action, romance, horror, comedy — onto the screen (puruṣa). All the drama (vikāras, guṇas) comes from the projector. The screen simply witnesses without itself changing. Both projector and screen are beginningless in this analogy; but only the screen is puruṣa.
What it does NOT mean
Some readers confuse 'both beginningless' with 'both equal' or 'both real in the same way.' But the Gita's point is about origin in time (anādi), not ontological status. Advaita would add: ultimately puruṣa = Brahman; prakṛti = the power of Brahman (māyā/śakti). The beginner's key insight: modifications (vikāras) are prakṛti's — not mine.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Know thou that Prakriti and Purusha are both beginningless; and know thou also that all modifications and Gunas are born of Prakriti. [4]
[Arnold full chapter text; verse establishes both Prakriti and Purusha as beginningless; all modifications and qualities are from Prakriti] [7]
Know that both Nature and the individual soul are beginningless; and know that the various forms and qualities too are produced from Nature. [9]
Know that both Prakriti and Purusha are without beginning; and know also that all modifications and all qualities are from Prakriti. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.
The enemy is desire and anger, born of rajas — all-devouring, all-sinful. Know this as your internal enemy.
Supreme bliss comes naturally to the yogi whose mind is fully at peace, passion quieted, stainless — Brahman-become.
All sāttvic, rājasic, and tāmasic states proceed from Me — yet I am not in them; they are in Me.
Deluded by the three guṇa-constituted states, all this world does not recognize Me — beyond them, imperishable.
This divine māyā of Mine, made of the guṇas, is hard to cross — but those who take refuge in Me alone do cross it.
Verse 20 of 34 · back to Chapter 13