The Bhagavad Gita · 1 of 2 · tr. Kashinath Trimbak Telang
Chapter XIII, Section 1a
CHAPTER XIII.
The Deity said: This body, O son of Kuntî!
is called Kshetra , and the learned call him who knows it the Kshetra g ña.
.
And know me also, O descendant of Bharata!
to be the Kshetra g ña in all Kshetras.
The knowledge of Kshetra and Kshetra g ña is deemed by me (to be real) knowledge.
Now hear from me in brief what that Kshetra (is), what (it is) like, what changes (it undergoes), and whence (it comes), and what is he , and what his powers, (all which) is sung in various ways by sages in numerous hymns , distinctly, and in well-settled texts full of argument, giving indications or full instruction about the Brahman.
The great elements , egoism, the understanding, the unperceived also, the ten senses, and the one, and the five objects of sense, desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, body, consciousness, courage, thus in brief has been declared the Kshetra with changes .
Absence of vanity, absence of ostentatiousness, absence of hurtfulness, forgiveness, straightforwardness, devotion to a preceptor, purity , steadiness, self-restraint, indifference towards objects of sense, and also absence of egoism; perception of the misery and evil of birth, death , old age, and disease; absence of attachment, absence of self-identifying regard for son, wife , home, and so forth; and constant equability on the approach of (both what is) agreeable and (what is) disagreeable; unswerving devotion to me, without meditation on any one else; resorting to clean places, distaste for assemblages of men , constancy in knowledge of the relation of the individual self to the supreme, perception of the object of knowledge of the truth, this is called knowledge; that is ignorance which is opposed to this.
I will declare that which is the object of knowledge, knowing which, one reaches immortality; the highest Brahman, having no beginning nor end, which cannot be said to be existent or non-existent .
It has hands and feet on all sides, it has eyes, heads, and faces on all sides, it has ears on all sides, it stands pervading everything in the world.
Possessed of the qualities of all the senses, (but) devoid of all senses , unattached, it supports all, is devoid of qualities, and the enjoyer of qualities.
It is within all things and without them; it is movable and also immovable; it is unknowable through (its) subtlety; it stands afar and near .
Not different in (different) things , but standing as though different, it should be known to be the supporter of (all) things, and that which absorbs and creates (them).
It is the radiance even of the radiant (bodies); it is said (to be) beyond darkness.
It is knowledge, the object of knowledge, that which is to be attained to by knowledge, and placed in the heart of all .
Thus in brief have Kshetra, knowledge, and the object of knowledge been declared.
My devotee, knowing this, becomes fit for assimilation with me.
Know nature and spirit both (to be) without beginning, and know all developments and qualities (to be) produced from nature.
Nature is said to be the origin of the capacity of working (residing) in the body and the senses; and spirit is said (to be) the origin of the capacity of enjoying pleasures and pains .
For spirit with nature joined, enjoys the qualities born of nature.
And the cause of its birth in good or evil wombs is the connexion with the qualities .
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The highest Brahman is described as 'cannot be said to be existent or non-existent' and 'unknowable through (its) subtlety,' utilizing negation to define the divine.
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
The passage distinguishes between 'Nature' (Prakriti) as the origin of action and 'Spirit' (Purusha) as the origin of enjoyment, presenting a fundamental duality.
Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.
The passage lists 'absence of attachment,' 'indifference towards objects of sense,' and 'absence of egoism' as essential qualities of true knowledge.
The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.
The text describes the Supreme as 'devoid of qualities' and 'not different in (different) things,' hinting at a non-composite nature despite the anthropomorphic descriptions.
The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.
The passage explicitly defines the body (Kshetra) as containing all cosmic elements and principles, establishing the human being as a mirror of the entire cosmos.
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The text states that the devotee who knows these truths becomes 'fit for assimilation with me,' describing a merging of the individual self with the Supreme.
The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.
The passage advises 'absence of self-identifying regard for son, wife, home,' and 'distaste for assemblages of men,' suggesting a renunciation of worldly attachments. [quarantine-w4: renunciation_of_wealth x hinduism — see rellm data/quarantine/dossiers.jsonl]
The text mentions the 'misery and evil of birth, death, old age, and disease' and the cause of 'birth in good or evil wombs,' implying a cycle of rebirth.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The text declares that the Supreme Spirit (Kshetragña) pervades all things, is within and without, and that knowing this unity leads to assimilation with the Divine.