Bhagavad Gita 13.20प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्ध्यनादी उभावपि।विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसंभवान् ॥
prakṛitiṁ puruṣhaṁ chaiva viddhy anādī ubhāv api
vikārānśh cha guṇānśh chaiva viddhi prakṛiti-sambhavān
Sanskrit recitation
Matter, spirit, and freedom · 13.19–13.35 · Teaching
Translation
Know that Nature (matter) and the Spirit are both beginningless, and know also that all modifications and qualities are born from Nature.
Hindi translation
प्रकृति और पुरुष -- दोनोंको ही तुम अनादि समझो और विकारों तथा गुणोंको भी प्रकृतिसे ही उत्पन्न समझो। कार्य और करणके द्वारा होनेवाली क्रियाओंको उत्पन्न करनेमें प्रकृति हेतु कही जाती है और सुख-दुःखोंके भोक्तापनमें पुरुष हेतु कहा जाता है।
Meaning
Steps are necessary to reach the top floor of a building. Even so, steps are necessary to reach the summit of the knowledge of the Self. That is the reason why Lord Krishna took Arjuna to the summit of knowledge step by step. He first taught Arjuna the nature of the field, then knowledge, ignorance or nonwisdom, and ultimately the knowable. When a child is to be fed,the intelligent mother divides the food into small portions and feeds the child little by little. Even so Lord Krishna fed His spiritual child Arjuna with the spiritual food little by little.Lord Krishna says O Arjuna I will give you the same teaching in another form by the description of the Spirit and Nature.Till now the Lord expounded the knowledge of the field and the Self in accordance with the philosophy of the Upanishads. Now He explains the same knowledge in accordance with the Sankhya philosophy, but without accepting its dual nature in the form of discrimination between the Spirit and Nature.Vikaras Modifications from the MahatTattva or intellect down to the physical body the twentyfour principles of the Sankhyas. The Self within is changeless. All changes take place in Nature
After Swami Sivananda
Matter, spirit, and freedom· 13.19–13.35→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 13.19Thus, the field, as well as knowledge and the knowable, have been briefly stated. My…
13.20Know that Nature (matter) and the Spirit are both beginningless, and know also that all…
- 13.21In the production of the effect and the cause, Nature (matter) is said to be the cause; in…
- 13.22The soul seated in Nature experiences the qualities born of Nature; attachment to the…
- 13.23The Supreme Soul in this body is also called the observer, the permitter, the sustainer,…
- 13.24He who thus knows the Spirit and Matter together with their qualities, in whatever…
- 13.25Some behold the Self within themselves through meditation, others through the Yoga of…
- 13.26Others, too, who do not know thus, worship, having heard of It from others; they, too,…
- 13.27Wherever a being is born, whether unmoving or moving, know thou, O best of the Bharatas…
- 13.28He who sees the Supreme Lord existing truly in all beings, the imperishable within the…
- 13.29For he who truly sees the same Lord dwelling everywhere does not destroy the Self by the…
- 13.30He sees, who sees that all actions are performed solely by Nature and that the Self is…
- 13.31When a person sees all beings as resting in the One and emanating from the One alone, they…
- 13.32Being without beginning, devoid of any qualities, the Supreme Self, imperishable, though…
- 13.33As the all-pervading ether is not tainted, due to its subtlety, so the Self seated…
- 13.34Just as the one sun illuminates the entire world, so too does the Lord of the field…
- 13.35They who, by the eye of knowledge, perceive the distinction between the field and its…
Word-by-word→
- api
- and
- cha
- and
- eva
- indeed
- ubhau
- both
- viddhi
- know
- anādī
- beginningless
- guṇān
- the three modes of nature
- vikārān
- transformations (of the body)
- prakṛiti
- material energy
- puruṣham
- the individual souls
- sambhavān
- produced by
- prakṛitim
- material nature
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