BG 13.1 - 35
Who is God, what is nature, what is matter, and what is the self? What is wisdom, and what is worth knowing?
Krishna replied:
This physical body is called the "field", and those who know the self call those who are aware of this as "knowers of the field".
[2]I am the omniscient knower of all fields. Knowledge of the field and the all-knowing self that sensitizes it is true wisdom.
[3]I will briefly explain what the "field" is, what it is composed of, from where it came, why it changes, the nature of self, and the source of its power.
[4]Great sages have sung of it in many ways, and have written strong arguments for it in the sacred Vedas.
[5]
The five elements (earth, fire, air, water, and space), personality, intellect, the life force, the ten organs of perception, the mind, and the five senses, craving and aversion, happiness and sorrow, the body, sentience, and fortitude - these, together with their modifications, are the "field". With humility, unpretentiousness, nonviolence, forgiveness, sincerity, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, and self-control renunciation of sensual pleasures, absence of pride, recognition of the painful cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, with indifference toward children, spouses, and homes, and with equanimity toward both good fortune and bad, constantly devote yourself toward me alone, retreat to solitary places, and remain indifferent toward socializing. True wisdom is constantly yearning for knowledge of the self, and pondering the nature of reality. Ignorance is everything to the contrary.
I shall now speak of that essential knowledge which grants immortality - the Supreme Brahman, the eternal spirit within me which has no beginning, said to be neither existent nor nonexistent. It has hands, feet, eyes, heads, ears, and mouths everywhere. It exists in all creatures and envelops them all. It illuminates the senses, yet has no senses of its own. It is bound to nothing, yet it sustains everything. It is devoid of the Gunas, yet it experiences them all. It is within all beings, and it also surrounds them. It is motionless yet moving, too subtle to be perceived, in the distance yet ever closer. Undivided, yet appearing scattered, this self is the sustenance, dissolution, and origination of beings. It is the light of all lights, beyond the reach of darkness. It is wisdom, attained only through knowledge, which is present in the hearts of all.
Thus, I have summarized the nature of matter, the self to be realized, and the wisdom to be found. One who is devoted to me becomes qualified for my state. Know that nature and God have no beginning, and the differences between them are born of nature. Nature generates the law of cause and effect, while the self is the cause of all pleasure and pain. The self, seated in nature, experiences the qualities brought forth by nature. Affinity toward these qualities is the reason for birth in a good or evil womb.
The self in the body is called the observer, approver, supporter, experiencer, great master, and also the supreme self. One who understands the self and nature, along with the natural qualities, will never be reborn, regardless of what condition they may find themselves in. Some recognize the self through meditation; others, through knowledge and reasoning; and others, through righteous action. But others, having no direct knowledge but having heard from others, worship accordingly. If they are devoted to what they have heard, they too can pass beyond death.
Wherever life is seen in things, both moving and stationary, know that it is through this combination of the field and its knower. One who sees the supreme imperishable self in all beings is the one who truly sees. Seeing the supreme self in all things, they do not injure the self by the self, attaining the highest goal. One who knows the truth understands that it is only the law of nature that brings action to fruition, and that the self is never the one that acts. One who perceives the diverse forms of life rooted in one place, and their expansion from there alone, will certainly attain Brahman.
This supreme self is without beginning and is imperishable. Though it dwells in the body, it does not act, nor does it get tainted by action. Just as space is present everywhere and is too subtle to be tainted, the self is present within bodies everywhere, and cannot be defiled. Just as a single sun illuminates this entire world, so too does a knower of the field illuminate the field itself. Those who understand, by the eye of wisdom, the difference between the field and the knower of the field, and the means by which they may be liberated from nature, attain the supreme state.
