True knowledge sees the field, the individual knower, and Krishna as supreme knower.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत |क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ||१३-३||
kṣetrajñaṃ cāpi māṃ viddhi sarvakṣetreṣu bhārata . kṣetrakṣetrajñayorjñānaṃ yattajjñānaṃ mataṃ mama ||13-3||
Use this verse to transform self-awareness into compassion.
Meaning
O Bharata, know Me also as the knower in all fields. Knowledge of the field and the knower of the field is true knowledge according to Me.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Krishna is the supreme knower present in all bodies.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna expands self-awareness into God-awareness. Each body has individual consciousness, but Krishna is the supreme witness in all fields. True knowledge is knowing both the body-mind field and the divine knower.
Read the traditional 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.
In daily life
Remember that Krishna is present as witness in every person.
Before judging someone, a person can remember that Krishna also knows their inner field.
Try this today
Pause before one judgment and remember the inner witness.
Krishna is the witness in every field.Reflect
Do I see Krishna as witness in others too?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘क्षेत्रज्ञम् च अपि’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on non duality, in other chapters
- Verse 18.20The highest knowledge sees one undivided Reality shining through all the world's countless separate forms.
- Verse 4.24When you see the divine in the doer, the deed, and the offering alike, every act becomes worship and leads to the infinite.
- Verse 15.15The Divine dwells in your own heart as the source of memory and knowledge, and is the goal of all scripture.
- 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.
Swipe left for 13.4 · Spiritual knowledge can be studied systematically.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 13.3
Who says Bhagavad Gita 13.3, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 13.3, in Chapter 13, Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga (Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 13.3 mean?
O Bharata, know Me also as the knower in all fields. Knowledge of the field and the knower of the field is true knowledge according to Me. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 13.3 for daily life?
Remember that Krishna is present as witness in every person. Before judging someone, a person can remember that Krishna also knows their inner field.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 13.3 mean?
क्षेत्रज्ञम् च अपि — and also the knower of the field; माम् विद्धि — know to be Me; सर्वक्षेत्रेषु — in all fields; भारत — O descendant of Bharata (Arjuna); क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोः ज्ञानम् — knowledge of the field and its knower.
Where does verse 13.3 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 3 of 35 in Chapter 13, Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 13.4.