13:1: Arjuna said: I wish to understand knowledge concern-ing prakriti, purusha, the field, the knower of the field, and what is to be known, O Keshava.
The Blessed One said: O child of Kunti, this body is called the ‘field’ and one who knows this is called ‘the knower of the field’ according to those who understand.
13:2: Know Me to be the knower of the field (or body) and indeed, the knower of all fields (bodies), O descendent of Bharata. Those who know the field and the knower of the field have perfect knowledge, in my opinion.
13:3, 4: Hear from Me in brief about the field as it is, its transformations, its origin, its creator, and the glories of its God.
This is discussed in diverse ways by the seers who have sung various hymns and individual aphorisms from the Brahma Sutra with well-reasoned conclusions.
13:5, 6: The five dominant elements, false ego, the intel-lect, the unmanifested existence, the ten senses, and the mind, the five sense objects, desire, hatred, happiness, suf-fering, the body with its senses, consciousness, and reso-luteness, the transformations of the field (the body) are herein briefly illustrated.
13:7-11: Humility, sincerity, nonviolence, tolerance, uprightness, serving the spiritual preceptor, purity, steadfastness, Self-control, not desiring sense objects, devoid of false ego, regarding the defilement of birth, old age, disease, and suffering, devoid of attachment, without clinging to son, wife, home, etc., with constant equilibrium having attained the desirable and undesirable, with exclusive and constant devotion to Me, resorting to desolate places because of dissatisfaction with human society, maintaining constancy in knowledge of the self, and insight into the aim of the knowledge of the truth — this is called real knowledge; that which is contrary to this is ignorance.
13:12: That which is to be known I will describe, knowing which, one imbibes the nectar of immortality. Thus, knowing, one deems Me to be the supreme, beginningless Spirit; being supreme, I am called both being and non-being.
13:13-18: I am everywhere in the world, abiding in the hands, feet, eyes, heads, mouths, ears; I am all-pervading.
Illuminating the qualities of all senses, yet possessing no senses, maintaining everything, yet without being attached to anything, devoid of all material qualities, yet employing the senses,
I am within and without all beings, both the unmoving and the moving. Because of My subtle nature, I am unknowable. I am far away yet near.
Undivided, yet abiding within all living beings as if divided, the maintainer of all beings, the object of knowledge, devouring all; I am preeminent.
In all luminous objects, I am the light; I am beyond darkness. I am said to be knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge; I am established within the hearts of all.
Thus, I have briefly explained the field, knowledge, and the object of knowledge. Knowing this, My devotees are eligible to attain Me.
13:19-21: Material nature and the living entities are the beginning. Know both to be transformations of the three gunas, born of material nature.
In the creation of cause and effect, material nature is said to be the cause. In experiencing pleasure and suffering, the living entity is said to be the determinant. The living entity, abiding in material nature, enjoys the three qualities of material nature because of their association with the gunas and thus takes birth within higher or lower forms of life.
13:22: The Supreme God is the Witness, Allower, Supporter, and the Enjoyer. This Supreme Person is said to be the highest Self within the body.
13:23: One who understands this about the living entities, material nature, and the gunas, regardless of lifestyle, need not be born again.
13:24, 25: Some behold the Self by inward meditation; others find the Self through systematic insights into worldly existence, while yet others by sacrificing the results of all fruitive activities.
But others, lacking in knowledge, hear from others and thus worship Me. They also transcend death, being solely devoted to what they have heard.
13:26: Whatever comes into being, whether moving or unmoving, results from the union between the field and the knower of the field, O best of the Bharatas.
13:27, 28: The Supreme God abides equally in all living beings, among the perishable and the imperishable. One who discerns this truly sees.
Seeing the supreme God abiding everywhere equally, one does not corrupt oneself and so attains the highest goal.
13:29, 30: All activities are performed by material nature. One who sees the Self completely devoid of activities truly sees.
Keeping in mind that all the diverse beings that exist are but expansions of One Living Entity, one attains Brahman.
13:31: The inexhaustible supreme Self, having no beginning and possessing no material qualities, although abiding in the body, O child of Kunti, is neither active nor contaminated [by activities].
13:32: Because of its all-pervading subtlety, the ether is not defiled. Likewise, although abiding throughout the body, the Self is not contaminated.
13:33: As the one sun illumines the entire world, so too God, the owner of the field, illumines the entire field (of the material body), O descendent of Bharata.
13:34: Those who, with the eye of knowledge, distinguish between the field (the body) and the Knower of the field, and who understand the liberation of the living beings from material nature, attain the Supreme.
Here Ends Chapter Thirteen