Chapter 13, Verse 27
यावत्सञ्जायते किञ्चित्सत्त्वं स्थावरजङ्गमम् | क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञसंयोगात्तद्विद्धि भरतर्षभ ||१३-२७||
yāvatsañjāyate kiñcitsattvaṃ sthāvarajaṅgamam . kṣetrakṣetrajñasaṃyogāttadviddhi bharatarṣabha ||13-27||
Meaning
13.27 Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou, O best of the Bharatas (Arjuna), that it is from the union between the field and its knower.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna gives a sweeping cosmological insight: every being that comes into existence — whether immobile like plants and rocks or mobile like animals and humans — arises from the union (samyoga) of the field and its knower, of matter and consciousness. Neither alone produces a living being. Inert matter without consciousness is lifeless; consciousness without a field has no manifest form. Life springs from their coming together.
This universal principle quietly affirms the kinship of all creation. The same two ingredients compose every creature; the difference between a tree and a sage is only in the configuration of the field, not in the nature of the knower that animates it. Such a vision dissolves arrogance and nurtures reverence for all life, for every being is woven from the same sacred meeting of spirit and matter. To perceive this union everywhere is to begin seeing the one consciousness shining, in greater or lesser clarity, through every form.
💡 Key Takeaway
Every living thing arises from the meeting of matter and consciousness — a shared sacred origin uniting all life.
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.
अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम् | भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च ||१३-१७||
avibhaktaṃ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktamiva ca sthitam . bhūtabhartṛ ca tajjñeyaṃ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca ||13-17||
13.17 And undivided, yet It exists as if divided in beings; It is to be known as the supporter of being; It devours and It generates.
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि | विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान् ||१३-२०||
prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva viddhyanādi ubhāvapi . vikārāṃśca guṇāṃścaiva viddhi prakṛtisambhavān ||13-20||
13.20 Know thou that Nature (matter) and the Spirit are both beginningless; and know also that all modifications and alities are born of Nature.