In Chapter 13, entitled "Kshtra Kshtrajna Vibhaga Yoga" Sri Krishna reveals the distinct difference between the physical body & the immortal Soul. Characteristic of both are described in detail. He explains that the physical body is transitory & perishable, while the Soul is Immutable & Eternal. This chapter contains some of the most beautiful Sanskrit verses of the whole Gita. A proper understanding of the physical & the spiritual will lead to liberation.

1. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
T K G NAMBOODHIRI
THIRUVALLA, KERALA
Presentation adapted from
The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, Orient
Paperbacks,2011
T K G Namboodhiri

2. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
T K G Namboodhiri
CHAPTER 13
KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA
VIBHAGA YOGA

3. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
CHAPTER 13- Introduction
From this chapter begins the third triad
of six chapters & a new subject. It
discusses the body & its nature. The
distinct difference between the physical
body & the immortal soul is revealed by
Krishna. He explains that the physical is
transitory & perishable; the soul is
immutable & eternal.
T K G Namboodhiri

4. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.1 & 13.2
This body, O Kaunteya, is called the Field; he
who knows it is called Knower of the Field by
those who know.
And understand Me to be, O Bharata, the
Knower of the Field in all the Fields; & the
knowledge of the Field & the Knower of the
Field, I hold, is true knowledge.
This body, the mind & the physical world may
be called the Field, or creation. And He is the
creator of all creations, explains Sri Krishna. A
true understanding of the creator & the
creation, is true knowledge
T K G Namboodhiri

5. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.3 & 13.4
What that Field is, what its nature, what its
modifications, & whence is what, as also who He is, &
what His powers are---- hear this briefly from Me.
This subject has been sung by seers distinctly & in
various ways, in different hymns as also in aphoristic
texts about Brahman, well reasoned & unequivocal.
What the creation is, what are its transformations or
changes, where the source is, who is the Creator, what
His powers are– this theme has been expounded
analytically by seers in manifold ways in various hymns.
It has been discussed in the Brahmasutras with logically
arranged steps, clearly explaining the connection
between cause & effect; & every word has been weighed
so that not a syllable can be altered.
T K G Namboodhiri

6. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.5 & 13.6
The great elements, Ego, Reason, the Unmanifest, the
ten senses, & the one (mind), & the five spheres of the
senses;
Desire, dislike, pleasure, pain, association,
consciousness, cohesion---- this , in sum, what is called
the Field with its modifications.
The five Mahabhutas (earth, water, fire, air & ether),
ahankar (the false ego), which sustains those bhutas,
buddhi (intelligence), the avyakta (the unmanifest), the
ten senses ( 5 of perceptions & 5 of actions), the mind, &
the objects of the 5 senses ( smell, taste, form, touch, &
sound), so also desire, ill will, happiness, misery,
association, consciousness, cohesion– the aggregate of
these 24 elements, in brief, is called the Field (of activity)
with its modifications ( birth, infancy, youth, maturity, old
age & death).
T K G Namboodhiri

7. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.7 to 13.9
Freedom from pride & pretentiousness; non-violence,
forgiveness, uprightness, service of the Master, purity,
steadfastness, self-restraint;
Aversion from sense-objects, absence of conceit,
realisation of the painfulness & evil of birth, death, age &
disease;
Absence of attachment, refusal to be wrapped up in
one’s children, wife, home & family, even-mindedness
whether good or ill befall.
Lord Krishna continues with the attributes needed to
attain knowledge. Disinterest in sense objects,
realization of evils of earthly life, detachment from family
& possessions & even-mindedness in good & bad
conditions
T K G Namboodhiri

8. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.10 & 13.11
Unwavering & all-exclusive devotion to Me, resort to
secluded spots, distaste for the haunts of men;
Settled conviction of the nature of the atman,
perceptions of (the God as) the goal of knowledge of
Truth. All this is declared to be knowledge & the
reverse of it is ignorance.
Sri Krishna concludes the listing of virtues with the
statement that all these constitute the essence of
knowledge, & whatever is contrary & opposed to
these attributes is ignorance & detrimental to real
knowledge.
T K G Namboodhiri

9. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.12 & 13.13
In the next 6 verses Lord Krishna explains the Field,
Knowledge & that which is to be known:
I will expound to thee that which is to be known &
knowing which one enjoys immortality; it is the supreme
Brahman which has no beginning, which is called neither
Being nor non-Being.
Everywhere having hands & feet, everywhere having
eyes, heads, faces, everywhere having ears, It abides
embracing everything in the universe.
Brahman, the supreme Reality is that which is to be
known. Brahman is both Being & non-Being. It is beyond
these two. God is beyond the three categories of time–
past, present & future. He pervades everything. He has
hands & feet everywhere. He is everywhere & in all
directions. He embraces everything in the universe.
T K G Namboodhiri

10. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.14 to 13.16
Seeming to possess the function of the senses, It is
devoid of all the senses; It touches naught, upholds all;
having no gunas, It experiences gunas.
Without all beings, yet within; immovable yet moving; so
subtle that it cannot be perceived; so far yet so near It is.
Undivided, It seems to subsist divided in all beings; this
Brahman—That which is to be known is the Sustainer of
all, yet It is their Devourer & Creator.
Brahman is conscious of the functions of all sense
organs, though He Himself possesses no sense-organs.
He exists outside & inside of all beings, animate &
inanimate. Being subtle, He is beyond the power of
material senses to see or to know. Though indivisible, He
seems to be there divided in all beings. He is worth
knowing. He sustains all creatures. He is their Destroyer
& yet the Creator of them all.
T K G Namboodhiri

11. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.17 & 13.18
Light of all lights, It is said to be beyond darkness; It is
knowledge, the object of knowledge, to be gained only by
knowledge; It is seated in the hearts of all.
Thus have I expounded in brief the Field, Knowledge &
that which is to be Known; My devotee, when he knows
this, is worthy to become one with Me.
He is Superlight. He is beyond darkness, i.e.. He is self-
effulgent. He is Himself Knowledge. He is also the object
of Knowledge to be realised only by Knowledge. He is the
goal of Knowledge.
Sri Krishna thus concludes His description of the Field,
Knowledge & the object of Knowledge. He declares that
one who gains this Knowledge is eligible to merge with
Himself.
T K G Namboodhiri

12. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.19 & 13.20
Know that Prakriti & Purusha are both without beginning;
know that all the modifications & gunas are born of
Prakriti.
Prakriti is described as the cause in the creation of
effects from causes; Purusha is described as the cause
of the experiencing of pleasure & pain.
God is described here as having two aspects, Prakriti &
Purusha. Anything done (karya) under compulsion of desires—
Prakriti—is the karan (cause). Purusha is the cause of the
experiencing of happiness & misery. The body is the field of
activity & is composed of material nature. The individual Soul
that is embodied & enjoying the fruits of activities of the body
is the Purusha or the living entity. Both the Purusha, or the
immortal Soul, & Prakriti, the material nature pervading
physical existence, have been existing together & are eternal.
Purusha uniting with Prakriti expresses itself as a Kshetra, or
field of activity, which is the physical body.
T K G Namboodhiri

13. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.21 & 13.22
For the Purusha, residing in Prakriti experiences the
gunas born of Prakriti; attachment to these gunas is the
cause of his birth in good or evil wombs.
What is called in this body the Witness, the Assentor, the
Sustainer, the Experiencer, the Great Lord & also the
Supreme Atman, is the Supreme Being.
The gunas or three modes of material nature, being
Sattva or goodness, Rajas or passion with its desires, &
Tamas or nescience with its ignorance, are all by
products of Prakriti. Attachment to the gunas due to
ignorance is the cause of birth in good or evil wombs.
The Purusha dwelling in this body is Para, beyond Maya,
but He witnesses & gives consent. He is the ordainer the
enjoyer & the Sustainer of everything. He is the God of
gods & is described as Paramatman.
T K G Namboodhiri

14. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verse 13.23
He who thus knows Purusha & Prakriti is not born again,
no matter how he lives & moves.
If anyone claims that he is a bhakta of God, so the sins
he commits are committed by God, he is wrong. But it
would be right if the world said of him that he was a man
of God & that everything he did was done through him by
God. Our reason may be carried away by pride at any
time & become evil, but one with perfect knowledge will
never be misguided by his reason. Every karma has the
effect of binding the soul, but one can become free from
the bonds of karma by dedicating all one’s karmas to
God. Such a person will never commit a sin. It is in
egotism that sin has its source. There is no sin where
there is no consciousness of the ‘I‘.
T K G Namboodhiri

15. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.24 & 13.25
Some through meditation behold the Atman by
themselves in their own self; others by Sankhya
yoga, & others by karma yoga.
Yet others, not knowing (Him) thus, worship
(Him) having heard from others; they too pass
beyond death, because of devoted adherence to
what they heard.
If having heard it explained that we shall be
saved by dedicating all our work to God, we act
in this spirit.
T K G Namboodhiri

16. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.26 & 13.27
Wherever something is born, animate or inanimate,
know, thou Bharatarshabha, that it issues from the
union of the Field & the Knower of the Field.
Who sees abiding in all beings the same
Parameshvara, imperishable in the perishable, He
sees indeed.
If we examine things separately, human beings, grains of
dust, water & so on, their origin will be different in each
case. If, instead, we go to the very first cause, we shall
no more think of objects having their distinctive forms &
names. Though things are ever perishing, there is an
indestructible element in everything which remains
unaffected by any change. One who correctly
understands that Atman is imperishable, perceives
reality. Only such a person alone sees things properly.
T K G Namboodhiri

17. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.28 & 13.29
When he sees the same Ishvara abiding everywhere
alike, he does not hurt himself by himself & hence he
attains the highest goal.
Who sees that it is Prakriti that performs all actions &
thus (knows) that Atman performs them not, he sees
indeed.
When he sees the same God abiding alike at all places he does
not destroy the self by the self—believes that, with the
destruction of his body, he himself does not perish-- &
consequently he achieves the highest status. By gaining this
basic realisation one achieves the goal of soul-realisation &
becomes eligible for the supreme destination.
Who realises that Prakriti is the doer of all actions & sees that
Atman is not the doer—though all things take place through
God’s Maya, the Supreme Purusha involved in the process is not
their author– he alone who does so, sees indeed.
T K G Namboodhiri

18. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.30 to 13.32
When he sees the diversity of beings as founded in unity
& the whole expanse issuing therefrom, then he attains
Brahman.
This Imperishable Supreme Atman, O Kaunteya, though
residing in the body, acts not & is not stained, for He has
no beginning & no gunas.
As the all-pervading ether, by reason of its subtlety, is
not soiled, even so Atman pervading every part of the
body is not soiled.
The Gita is a work intended to be a guide in life & we
should be able to find in it support for all our actions in
practical life.
One who sees the unity in diversity, he attains Brahman.
The Atman, though residing in the body, is not tainted by
the actions of the body, just as ether pervading the
whole universe is not soiled by the latter.
T K G Namboodhiri

19. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 13.33 & 13.34
As the one Sun illumines the whole universe, even so the
Master of the Field illumines the whole Field.
Those who, with the eyes of knowledge, thus perceive
the distinction between the Field & the Knower of the
Field, & the secret of the release of beings from Prakriti,
they attain to Supreme.
Who knows the difference between the Field & the
Knower of the Field, & who knows how creatures may
become free from the bonds, of Prakriti & Maya, he
realises Moksha.
With these verses, Lord Krishna concludes this Chapter
where He had explained the nature of the Field & knower
of the Field. One who understand their nature properly is
liberated from this world of birth & death.
End of Chapter 13
T K G Namboodhiri