GG 13 Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness

Gītār Gān

GG 12 Devotional Service - GG 14 The Three Modes of Material Nature

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Chapter 13
Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness

arjun kahilen:

prakṛtir ār puruṣa kṣetra ye ksetrajña

jānibār icchā mor āmi nahi vijña

seirūp jñān ār vijñāna ki hay

keśava āmāke kaha kariyā niścay

śrī-bhagavān kahilen:

he kaunteya! e śarīra kṣetra nām tār

ihāra ye jñātā sei kṣetrajña vicār

Texts 1-2: Arjuna said: O my dear Kṛṣṇa, I wish to know about prakṛti (nature), puruṣa (the enjoyer), and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.

āmio kṣetrajña bujha sakala śarīre

he bhārata, antaryāmī kahe se āmāre

sei kṣetra ār kṣetrajñer yevā jñān

āmāra vicāre hay sei śuddha jñān

Text 3: O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its knower is called knowledge. That is my opinion.

sei kṣetra ār kṣetrajñera vicār

ki tār svarūp kimbā ki tār vicār

ki tār prabhāva kimbā kothā hate hay

śuna tumi kahi āmi kariyā niścay

Text 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.

dārśanik ṛṣi kata kareche vicār

smṛti chande kata vale nāhi tār pār

kintu vedānta vākye yuktira sahita

ye vicār kariyāche lāgi lokahita

sei se vicār jāna susiddhānta mat

sakalera grahaṇīya chāḍi anya path

Text 5: That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is described by various sages in various Vedic writings. It is especially presented in Vedānta-sūtra with all reasoning as to cause and effect.

kṣiti, ap, tej, vāyu, vyom mahābhūta

ahaṅkār, buddhi ār man avyakta sambhūta

cakṣu, karṇa, nāsikā, jihvā, tvak yāhā jāni

pāyu, pād, peṭ, liṅga ār yāhā pāṇi

sei daś vāhya-ār man se antare

ekādaś indriya se śāstrera vicāre

rūp, ras, gandha, śavda, sparśa ye viṣay

cavviśa se tattva bujha kṣetra paricay

ihādera ye vicār kare viśleṣaṇe

kṣetra-tattva sei vijña bhāla-rūpa jāne

icchā, dveṣ, sukh, duḥkha ār ye saṅghāt

sthūl deha parimāṇ pañca mahā-bhūta

cetanā śakti ye hay jīvera ādhār

tār saṅge dhṛti jāna kṣetrera vikār

ataev ei sab ekatre se kṣetra

sthūla sūkṣma jaḍa vidyā sei ye sarvatra

Texts 6-7: The five great elements, false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the ten senses and 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.

amānitva, adāmbhitva, ahiṁsā ye kṣānti

saralatā, guru-sevā, śouca, dhairya, śānti

āṭmāra nigraha yāhā indriya viṣaye

vairāgya nirahaṁkār sakala āśaye

janma, mṛtyu, jarā, vyādhi duḥkhera darśan

anāsakti strī putrete gṛhera prāṇgaṇ

udāsīn parivāre sukhete duḥkhete

nitya samacitta iṣṭa aniṣṭa madhyete

āmāte ananya-bhakti avyabhicāriṇī

nirjana sthānete vās grāmya nivāraṇī

adhyātma jñānera kare nityatva svīkār

tattva-jñān lāgi kare darśana vicār

sei se jñānera carcā vikāre nāś

ajñānatamera nām anyathā prakāś

Texts 8-12: Humility; pridelessness; non-violence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; 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; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.

jñānera jñātavya yāhā tāhā bali śuna

jānile se tattva habe amṛtera pān

sei brahma-tattva-jñān āmāra āśrita

anādi se sat ār asat atīta

Text 13: I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.

sarva-sthāne hasta-pada nahe nirākār

sarva-sthāne cakṣu śir kata mukh tār

sarvatra śravaṇa sarva āvaraṇa sthān

tini chāḍā tribhuvane nāhi kichu āna

Text 14: Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.

tṅāhā hate indriyādi hayeche prakāś

jaḍendriya nāhi tār sarva-guṇābhās

anāsakta sarva-bhūt tini se nirguṇ

sakala guṇera bhoktā tini cirantan

Text 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 the modes of material nature.

sakala bhūtera tini antare vāhire

tṅāhā hate hay sab cara vā acar

ati sūkṣma tattva tāi avijñeya

yugapat bahu dūre nikaṭeteo hay

Text 16: The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the non-moving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.

avibhakta hai-yāo vibhaktera mata

akhaṇḍa samaṣṭi tini vyaṣṭi-rūpe sthita

sarva-bhūta bhartā tini saba janmadātā

tini-i sabār punaḥ saṁhārera kartā

Text 17: Although the Supersoul appears to be divided among all beings, 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.

samasta jyotira tini parama ādhār

cinmaya tṅāhār jyoti jaḍa para ār

jñānamaya rūpa tāṅr jñānagamya jñeya

sakalera hṛdi-mājhe tini adhiṣṭheya

Text 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 everybody's heart.

ei kahinu tattva kṣetra jñān jñeya

vijñāna tāhāra nām paṇḍitera priya

e vijñān bujhiyā se mor bhakta hay

tattva śuddhi jñāna hay bhaktira āśray

Text 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.

prakṛta puruṣa hay anādi se siddha

anādi kāla hate ubhaya saṁvṛddha

vikārādi guṇa yata prākṛta sambhava

prākṛta puruṣa yei tār anubhava

Text 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.

kārya vā kāraṇa hay prakṛtira dān

bhogera kāraṇa sei puruṣei han

Text 21: Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.

prākṛta haiyā jīv bhuñje sei guṇ

prakṛtira guṇa sab prakṛtira dān

prākṛta guṇera saṅga ucca-nīca yoni

sadasad janma hay anya nāhi gaṇi

Text 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 among various species.

se jīvera baddha rūpe paramātmā saṅge

upadeṣṭā anumantā han tini raṅge

maheśvara tini bhoktā puruṣe parama

jīvera uddhāra lāgi tini saṅge han

Text 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.

sei se jñānera dvārā puruṣa prakṛti

puruṣera ye prākṛta guṇera svīkṛti

ye bujhila vartamān haiyā sarvathā

punarjanma nāhi tār nahe se anyathā

Text 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.

bhakta-gaṇ cidāśraye sadā dhyāne rata

prema-cakṣe paramātmāke darṣana satata

sāṁkhya-yogī jñāna dvārā ālocanā kare

karma-yogī bhagavāne karmārpaṇa kare

Text 25: Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through meditation, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still others through working without fruitive desires.

anya sādhāraṇ lok bujhe nā se kichu

śravaṇāntar upāsanā tārā kare kichu

tārāo tvariyā yāy e saṁsār hate

yadi śruti-parāyaṇa sādhura saṅgete

Text 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.

sthāvara jaṅgama yata janmeche janmābe

kṣetra kṣetrajñera saṁyoga prabhāve

Text 27: O chief of the Bhāratas, know that whatever you see in existence, both the moving and the non-moving, is only a combination of the field of activities and the knower of the field.

se saba bhūtete samasthita bhagavān

darṣana karite pāre kona bhāgyavān

bhagavān avinaśyat vastu tāhāra bhitare

vinaśyat dharma tini svīkāra nā kare

Text 28: One who sees the Supersoul accompanying the individual soul in all bodies, and who understands that neither the soul nor the Supersoul within the destructible body is ever destroyed, actually sees.

sakaler madhye sama thakena īśvar

dekhite samartha hay yei tatpar

ye ātmāke adhaḥpāt kabhu nāhi kare

kupathagāmī se duṣṭa mana dvāre

Text 29: One who sees the Supersoul equally present everywhere, in every living being, does not degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the transcendental destination.

prakṛti-pradatta deha indriyādi dvārā

prakṛti-i sādhe karma jīvera se sārā

kintu ātma-tattva jīv kichu nāhi kare

jṅāhāra darśana sei se dekhite pāre

Text 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.

prākṛtik vaicitrye yevā ekatva darśane

sarva-bhūtera pṛthak bhāv samartha se mane

sṛṣṭi sthiti vistār sei yevā jāne

samartha se jan dṛṣṭi brahma sampādane

Text 31: When a sensible man ceases to see different identities due to different material bodies and he sees how beings are expanded everywhere, he attains to the Brahman conception.

brahma-jñānī jīv nitya parama avyay

nirguṇa anādi tattva nirlipta se ray

Text 32: Those with the vision of eternity can see that the imperishable 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.

yemana sarvagata vyom,          sukṣma tattva anupam,

sarvatra sambhav vicaraṇ

tathāpi se lipta nahe,          nijera svatantra rahe,

sei-rūp ātma vicaraṇ

sarvatra vyāpiyā dehe,          kūṭastha pṛthaka rahe,

mahābhūte nahe se milan

tathā brahma-bhūta jīv,          ātma-tattva haye śiv,

deha-dharme lipta nāhi han

Text 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.

surya yathā prakāśaye akhila jagat

ek deśe ekā thāki samrāṭa mahat

he bhārat sei-rūp kṣetrī prakāśay

ekā eksthāne thāki kṣetra deha-may

Text 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.

kṣetra ār kṣetrajñer tattva-jñān cakṣe

dekhibār śakti hay se yāhār pakṣe

ek kṣetrajña se jīv anya paramātmā

ubhayer kṣetre vās kṣetra viśeṣātmā

tār mokṣa jaḍa-niṣṭha pravṛtti haite

sukhe vās para-vyome jaḍa deha ante

Text 35: Those who see with eyes of knowledge the difference between the body and the knower of the body, and can also understand the process of liberation from bondage in material nature, attain to the supreme goal.

bhaktivedānta kahe śrī-gītāra gān

śune yadi śuddha bhakta kṛṣṇagata-prāṇ

Thus Bhaktivedānta sings the song of Śrī Gītā, with the hope that hearing this, Kṛṣṇa conscious pure devotees will be pleased.

Gītār Gān

GG 12 Devotional Service - GG 14 The Three Modes of Material Nature