Chapter 13, Verse 3
क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत | क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ||१३-३||
kṣetrajñaṃ cāpi māṃ viddhi sarvakṣetreṣu bhārata . kṣetrakṣetrajñayorjñānaṃ yattajjñānaṃ mataṃ mama ||13-3||
Meaning
13.3 Do thou also know Me as the knower of the field in all fields, O Arjuna. Knowledge of both the field and the knower of the field is considered by Me to be ï1the ï1 knowledge.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna now lifts the teaching to its highest reach: the knower seated in every field, in every body throughout the cosmos, is ultimately the one divine consciousness — 'know Me as the kshetrajna in all fields.' The individual witness within you and the witness within every being are not many separate sparks but expressions of a single underlying awareness. This is the unifying vision that dissolves the illusion of isolation.
Real knowledge (jnana), Krishna declares, is precisely this twofold clarity: understanding the field of nature accurately, and recognising the divine knower that pervades it. Everything else is information; this alone is wisdom 'in My view' (matam mama). To know the field saves us from confusion about the world; to know the knower saves us from confusion about ourselves and reveals our kinship with the Divine present in all.
💡 Key Takeaway
The same awareness that lights up your inner world shines in every being — knowing this is the highest knowledge.
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.
तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक्च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत् | स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे शृणु ||१३-४||
tatkṣetraṃ yacca yādṛkca yadvikāri yataśca yat . sa ca yo yatprabhāvaśca tatsamāsena me śṛṇu ||13-4||
13.4 What the field is and of what nature, what are its modifications and whence it is and also who He is and what His powers are hear all that from Me in brief.
ऋषिभिर्बहुधा गीतं छन्दोभिर्विविधैः पृथक् | ब्रह्मसूत्रपदैश्चैव हेतुमद्भिर्विनिश्चितैः ||१३-५||
ṛṣibhirbahudhā gītaṃ chandobhirvividhaiḥ pṛthak . brahmasūtrapadaiścaiva hetumadbhirviniścitaiḥ ||13-5||
13.5 Sages have sung in many ways, in various distinctive chants and also in the suggestive words indicative of the Absolute, full of reasoning and decisive.