Spiritual growth begins by asking who am I and what is this body-mind field.
Arjuna speaks to Krishna
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||
Use this verse to begin a self-inquiry journey.
Meaning
Arjuna said: O Keshava, I wish to know prakriti and purusha, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and that which is to be known.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Arjuna asks about the body, soul, nature, knowledge, and ultimate truth.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Chapter 13 begins with a deep philosophical question. Arjuna wants clarity on what we are, what the body is, what nature is, and what true knowledge means.
Read the traditional commentary
Chapter thirteen opens with Arjuna posing six precise questions that frame the entire teaching to follow: prakriti and purusha (matter and spirit), kshetra and kshetrajna (the field and its knower), jnana and jneya (knowledge and the knowable). After chapters of action, devotion, and the divine vision, Arjuna now reaches for the deepest metaphysics — what we actually are beneath body and circumstance.
The word kshetra, 'field', is the master metaphor of this chapter. Just as a farmer's field yields a harvest according to what is sown, the body-mind is a field where actions ripen into experience. By asking who the 'knower' of this field is, Arjuna shifts attention from the ever-changing field to the unchanging witness within it.
His humility in saying 'I wish to learn' models the seeker's posture: curiosity offered to a trusted teacher.
In daily life
Do not live only as the body; inquire into the knower of the body.
A person feeling lost in career identity can ask whether they are only their role or the awareness behind it.
Try this today
Write one identity label and ask: who is aware of this?
I seek to know the field and the knower.Reflect
Am I identifying only with my body, role, or emotions?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘ज्ञेयम्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on consciousness, in other chapters
- Verse 15.9You are the conscious presence presiding over the senses, not the senses themselves.
- Verse 10.32Of all knowledge, the science of the Self is supreme — it alone liberates and ends all sorrow.
- Verse 2.69What is night for ordinary beings is wakefulness for the sage, and what wakes ordinary beings is night for the one who truly sees.
- Verse 4.5We forget our past lives and deeper nature; spiritual growth is the slow recovery of the awareness we keep losing.
Swipe left for 13.2 · You are the knower, not merely the field.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 13.1
Who says Bhagavad Gita 13.1, and to whom?
Arjuna speaks to Krishna in verse 13.1, in Chapter 13, Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga (Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 13.1 mean?
Arjuna said: O Keshava, I wish to know prakriti and purusha, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and that which is to be known. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 13.1 for daily life?
Do not live only as the body; inquire into the knower of the body. A person feeling lost in career identity can ask whether they are only their role or the awareness behind it.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 13.1 mean?
प्रकृतिम् — Nature, matter; पुरुषम् — the Spirit, the soul; क्षेत्रम् — the field; क्षेत्रज्ञम् — the knower of the field; एतत् वेदितुम् इच्छामि — this I wish to learn.
Where does verse 13.1 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 1 of 35 in Chapter 13, Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 13.2.