Chapter 13, Verse 7
इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं संघातश्चेतना धृतिः | एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम् ||१३-७||
icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ saṃghātaścetanā dhṛtiḥ . etatkṣetraṃ samāsena savikāramudāhṛtam ||13-7||
Meaning
13.7 Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (the body), intelligence, fortitude the field has thus been briefly described with its modifications.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Completing the inventory, Krishna names the inner movements that animate the field: desire and aversion (iccha and dvesha), pleasure and pain (sukha and duhkha), the bodily aggregate, the spark of sentience, and the fortitude (dhriti) that holds the organism together. These are the vikaras, the modifications by which the field constantly changes shape.
It is profound that desire, hatred, pleasure, and pain are placed within the field rather than within the self. Our most intimate emotions are presented as weather passing through nature, observed by the unchanging knower. This reframing is deeply freeing: when joy and sorrow are seen as modifications of the field, we need not be swept away by them. We can feel them fully while resting as the steady witness who remains untouched. Krishna thus turns a dry list into a practical map for emotional steadiness.
💡 Key Takeaway
Desire, aversion, pleasure, and pain are passing weather in the field — watch them without being ruled by them.
Related Verses
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||
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.
असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु | नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ||१३-१०||
asaktiranabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu . nityaṃ ca samacittatvamiṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu ||13-10||
13.10 Non-attachment, non-identification of the Self with son, wife, home and the rest, and constant even-mindedness on the attainment of the desirable and the undesirable.
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.