Bhagavad Gita 13.13ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वाऽमृतमश्नुते।अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते ॥
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣhyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛitam
aśhnute anādi mat-paraṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad uchyate
Sanskrit recitation
The field and the knower · 13.1–13.18 · Teaching
Translation
I will declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality; the beginningless Supreme Brahman, which is neither being nor non-being.
Hindi translation
जो ज्ञेय है, उस-(परमात्मतत्त्व-) को मैं अच्छी तरहसे कहूँगा, जिसको जानकर मनुष्य अमरताका अनुभव कर लेता है। वह (ज्ञेय-तत्त्व) अनादि और परम ब्रह्म है। उसको न सत् कहा जा सकता है और न असत् ही कहा जा सकता है।
Meaning
The Lord praises that which ought to be known (Para Brahman) in order to create in Arjuna (or any hearer) an intense desire to know It.Brahman cannot be expressed in words like being or nonbeing, because Brahman does not belong to any class or genus like a Brahmana, cow or horse. It has no quality like whiteness, blackness, etc. It has no relation or connection with anything else, because It is one without a second. It is no object of any sense. It is beyond the reach of the mind and the senses. It is actionless. It is the great transcendental and unmanifested Absolute. It is always the witnessing subject in all objects.The Vedas emphatically declare that Brahman is without attributes, activity, attachment or parts.In chapter IX. 19 it was stated that He is the being and also the nonbeing. It is now stated that He is neither being nor nonbeing. This would seem to the readers to be a contradiction in terms but it is not so. Though the manifest (perishable) and the unmanifest (imperishable) universe are both forms of Brahman, He is beyond both these. (Cf.VII.2XV.16,17and18)
After Swami Sivananda
The field and the knower· 13.1–13.18→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 13.1Arjuna said, "I wish to learn about Nature and the Spirit, the field and the knower of the…
- 13.2The Blessed Lord said, "O Arjuna, this body is called the field; he who knows it is called…
- 13.3Do thou also know Me as the knower of the field in all fields, O Arjuna. Knowledge of both…
- 13.4Hear from Me in brief what the field is, of what nature it is, what its modifications are,…
- 13.5Sages have sung in many ways, with various distinctive chants and also with suggestive…
- 13.6The great elements, egoism, intellect, and also the Unmanifested Nature, the ten senses,…
- 13.7Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (body), intelligence, and fortitude—the…
- 13.8Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, forgiveness, uprightness, service to the teacher,…
- 13.9Indifference to the objects of the senses and also absence of egoism; perceiving the evil…
- 13.10Non-attachment, non-identification of the Self with son, wife, home, and the rest, and…
- 13.11Unswerving devotion to Me through the Yoga of non-separation, resorting to solitary…
- 13.12Constancy in Self-knowledge, the perception of the end of true knowledge—this is declared…
13.13I will declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality; the…
- 13.14With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere, with ears…
- 13.15Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without being attached to them;…
- 13.16It is within and without all beings, both the unmoving and the moving; It is subtle and…
- 13.17Undivided yet, It exists as if divided in beings; It is to be known as the supporter of…
- 13.18That Light of all lights is said to be beyond darkness: knowledge, the knowable, and the…
Word-by-word→
- na
- not
- sat
- existent
- tat
- that
- yat
- which
- asat
- non-existent
- anādi
- beginningless
- brahma
- Brahman
- jñeyam
- ought to be known
- uchyate
- is called
- aśhnute
- one achieves
- amṛitam
- immortality
- jñātvā
- knowing
- mat-param
- subordinate to me
- pravakṣhyāmi
- I shall now reveal
Related verses
- 13.28He who sees the Supreme Lord existing truly in all beings, the imperishable within the…
- 5.19Even here in this world, those whose minds rest in reality overcome birth; Brahman is…
- 15.18As I transcend the perishable and am even higher than the imperishable, I am declared to…
- 4.9He who thus knows, in their true light, My divine birth and actions, having abandoned the…