13.2 The body is the field Krishna speaks
इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते
एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः
idaṁ śharīraṁ kaunteya kṣhetram ity abhidhīyate
etad yo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ kṣhetra-jña iti tad-vidaḥ
This body, son of Kunti, is called the field; and one who knows it is called the knower of the field.
Explanation
The body is the field; whoever knows it is the knower.
kṣetra and kṣetrajña. The whole apparatus of the chapter rests on this one distinction.
And the image is agricultural, which is worth keeping. A field is not an enemy or a prison — it is where something is grown, by someone who is not the field.
Going further
Word by word
- śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
- the Supreme Divine Lord said
- idam
- this
- śharīram
- body
- kaunteya
- Arjun, the son of Kunti
- kṣhetram
- the field of activities
- iti
- thus
- abhidhīyate
- is termed as
- etat
- this
- yaḥ
- one who
- vetti
- knows
- tam
- that person
- prāhuḥ
- is called
- kṣhetra-jñaḥ
- the knower of the field
- iti
- thus
- tat-vidaḥ
- those who discern the truth
Long-press or right-click the image to copy it. Nothing is uploaded — it is drawn here, on your device.
This body is the field; one who knows it is the knower of the field.
The chapter's whole apparatus rests on this distinction, and the image is agricultural rather than mystical: kṣhetra is a plot of land, something worked. The body is not called a prison or an illusion. It is called ground.