THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 18, KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 13

VERSE NUMBER 18

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

iti kshetram tathaa jnaanam jneyam co ‘ktam samaasatah

madbhakta etad vijnaaya madbhaavaayo ‘papadyate

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

iti = thus: kshetram = the field: tathaa = as well as: jnaanam = knowledge: jneyam = the knowable: cha = and: uktam = have been stated: samaasatah = briefly: madbhaktah = my devotee: etat = this: vijnaaya = knowing: madbhaavaaya = to my being: upapadyate = enters.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Thus the Kshetra, knowledge and that which has to be known have been briefly described. My devotee, on knowing this, is fitted for My state.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

On whatever object a man directs his entire attention, he is able to understand that object in its true state. He who is absorbed in devotion to Iswara is able to know Him. It is jnaana when man understands that God alone is revealing Himself as everything. This wisdom places him forever in the presence of Iswara. Soaked as he is in the thought and feeling of God he dwells with God.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

He alone is a Jnani who has realized Iswara. He becomes like a babe after God-realization. The baby has no individuality of its own. Therefore divinity beams through it.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

When the devotee sees the Eternal Indwelling Divine, he puts on the divine nature with the characteristics of freedom, love and equality. “He attains unto my state.”

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

He who has controlled his mind and organs, who has the knowledge of the field and the knowable, and who fixes his mind on Me becomes one with Me.

Thus the field described above (beginning with the ‘great elements’ and ending with ‘firmness’, verses 5 and 6), knowledge described above (beginning with ‘humility’ and ending with ‘perception of the end of true knowledge’ in verses 7 to 11) and the knowable described in verses 12 to 17—these have briefly been stated.

He who has single-minded devotion unto Me, who takes Me (Vasudeva, the Supreme Lord, the omniscient, and the supreme Guru) as the Self of everything, he who thinks and  feels that all that he sees, hears and touches is nothing but the Lord and he who has the right knowledge described above enters into My Being or attains release from birth and death.

Comments by the blogger:

From verse 5 to 17 of this chapter, Sri Krishna has described briefly and succinctly three main tatvas or ideas to be known. First He describes what is meant by kshetra or this body. Next, He describes the Gnana which is indispensable for understanding the tatva or idea of Atman or Soul. Then, thirdly, the kshetrajna is described by the Lord of Gita. But who can understand exactly all these three ideas or tatvas? Only the unflinching Devotee of Sri Krishna can understand these.

In Ishopanishad there is a sloka or mantra or verse which is addressed by the Sadhaka or Practitioner to the Sun. In that verse, the author of the said Upanishad requests, at the culmination of his meditation, the Sun god to please constrict his blinding flashes of rays so that the author could see what is behind the shining Sun! So understanding God in His true state is not just a matter of proper meditation for the prescribed period, but His Grace must flow toward the Devotee and God must show Himself to the Sadhaka or the Practitioner!

In the present sloka or verse, that is, verse number 18, the Lord says, “My devotee, knowing this, is fitted for My state. What is the State of The Lord of Gita? He is completely free of the Samsara. We have already seen that Samsara means the obligation of our selves to repeatedly come to live on the plane of this earth after repeated death. The Lord is above this obligation. He does not have any notion of Time. He lives beyond Time. There is no beginning and no end to God. And those Devotees who have understood the three ideas or tatvas are fitted to this State of the Lord.