The Science of Religion for Mankind - Shreemad Bhagwad Geeta: Yatharth Geeta

CHAPTER 13: THE SPHERE OF ACTION AND ITS KNOWER

CHAPTER 13: THE SPHERE OF ACTION AND ITS KNOWER

At the very outset of the Geeta Dhritrashtr asked Sanjay what had been done by his and Pandu’s sons assembled at Dharmkshetr, at Kurukshetr, for combat. But it has not been made clear so far where that field or sphere is. It is only in the present chapter that Krishn makes a precise declaration of the location of the sphere.

1.  “The Lord said, This body is, O son of Kunti, a battlefield (kshetr) and the men who know it (kshetragya) are called wise because they have grown spiritually dexterous by perceiving its essence.’’

Instead of being involved in this sphere, the kshetragya dominate it. So it has been said by sages who knew and comprehended its reality.

When the body is only one, how can there be two spheres- Dharmkshetr and Kurukshetr-in it? In truth, within the one body there exist two distinct, primeval instincts. There is first the pious treasure of divinity that provides access to the Supreme Spirit who stands for the most sublime dharm. On the other hand, there are the demoniacal impulses made up of impiety which lead a man to accept the mortal world as real. When there is abundance of divinity in the realm of the heart, the body is transmuted into a Dharmkshetr (field of dharm), but it degenerates into a Kurukshetr when it is dominated by devilish forces. This process of alternate rise and fall, of ascent and descent, operates at all times, but a decisive war commences between the two opposing impulses when an earnest devotee engages in the task of worship in association with a sage who has perceived the reality. Gradually, then, while the treasure of divinity grows, impious impulses are enfeebled and destroyed. The stage of God-realization is reached only after the complete elimination of the ill-gotten hoard of unrighteousness. And even the utility of the treasure of divinity is dispensed with after the stage of perception, for it is also then subsumed in the revered God. In Chapter 11, Arjun saw after the Kaurav also the warriors of his own army plunging and vanishing into the mouth of the all pervading God. Kshetragya is the character of the Self after this final dissolution.

2.  “And be it known to you, O Bharat, that I am the all-knowing Self (kshetragya) in all spheres; and to me awareness of the reality of kshetr and kshetragya, of mutable nature and the Self, is knowledge.’’

The one who knows the reality of the sphere of the body is a kshetragya. This is vouched for by sages who have known the essence of this sphere by direct experience. Now Krishn proclaims that he too is a kshetragya. In other words, he too was a yogi- indeed a Yogeshwar. Perception of the reality of kshetr and kshetragya, of nature with its contradictions and the Soul, is knowledge. Knowledge is not mere dispute.

3.  “Listen to me briefly on the whence and what of that sphere and its variations and properties, as well on the kshetragya and his abilities.’’

The sphere of action, of life and death, is mutable because it has evolved from some cause, whereas the kshetragya is possessed of authority. It is not only Krishn who says this; other sages have also said the same.

4.  “This has (also) been said in various distinct ways by sages in different scriptural verses and well-reasoned, definitive aphorisms on the knowledge of the Supreme Spirit (Brahmsutr).”

That is so say that Vedant, great sages, Brahmsutr, and Krishn all say the same thing. Krishn is, therefore, only saying what others have already said. Is the corporal body just what is visible of it? The question is taken up in the following verse.

5-6. “Speaking briefly, mutable physical body is the aggregate of the five elements, ego, intellect, even the unmanifest, the ten sense organs, mind and the five objects of sense, as well as desire, malice, pleasure and pain, and intelligence and fortitude.”