Chapter 13, Verse 2
श्रीभगवानुवाच | इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते | एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः ||१३-२||
śrībhagavānuvāca . idaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetramityabhidhīyate . etadyo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ ||13-2||
Meaning
13.2 The Blessed Lord said This body, O Arjuna, is called the field; he who knows it is called the knower of the field, by those who know of them.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna answers directly: this very body — sharira — is the kshetra, the field. It is the ground on which sensations, thoughts, desires, and the fruits of past action all arise and pass away. Crucially, the body is the known, not the knower; it is an object presented to awareness, like a field surveyed by the one who tends it.
The knower of this field, the kshetrajna, is the conscious self that observes every state of the body and mind without itself becoming any of them. Sages 'who know the truth' (tat-vidah) make this distinction the cornerstone of wisdom. When we habitually identify with the field — saying 'I am tired,' 'I am anxious' — we forget the witness who simply registers these passing conditions. Recognising ourselves as the knower, not the known, is the first liberating step of this chapter.
💡 Key Takeaway
Your body and mind are the field you observe, not the 'you' that does the observing.
Related Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च | एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव ||१३-१||
arjuna uvāca . prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva kṣetraṃ kṣetrajñameva ca . etadveditumicchāmi jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ ca keśava ||13-1||
13.1 Arjuna said I wish to learn about Nature (matter) and the Spirit (soul), the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and that which ought to be known, O Kesava.
महाभूतान्यहंकारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च | इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः ||१३-६||
mahābhūtānyahaṃkāro buddhiravyaktameva ca . indriyāṇi daśaikaṃ ca pañca cendriyagocarāḥ ||13-6||
13.6 The great elements, egoism, intellect, and also the Unmanifested Nature, the ten senses and one (mind), and the five objects of the senses.
इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं संघातश्चेतना धृतिः | एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम् ||१३-७||
icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ saṃghātaścetanā dhṛtiḥ . etatkṣetraṃ samāsena savikāramudāhṛtam ||13-7||
13.7 Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (the body), intelligence, fortitude the field has thus been briefly described with its modifications.