Shloka 39

Brahmopadeśa: Adhipatitva-kathana, Dharma-lakṣaṇa, and Kṣetra–Kṣetrajña Viveka

Book 14, Chapter 43

Devanagari script

आदिमध्यावसानान्तं सृज्यमानमचेतनम्‌ । न गुणा विदुरात्मानं सृज्यमाना: पुनः पुन:,आत्मा क्षेत्रको जानता है, इसलिये वह क्षेत्रज्ञ कहलाता है। क्षेत्रज्ष आदि, मध्य और अन्तसे युक्त समस्त उत्पत्तिशील अचेतन गुणोंके कार्यको और उनकी क्रियाको भी भलीभाँति जानता है, किंतु बारंबार उत्पन्न होनेवाले गुण आत्माको नहीं जान पाते

Transliteration

Vāyudeva uvāca: ādi-madhyāvasānāntaṁ sṛjyamānam acetanaṁ | na guṇā vidur ātmānaṁ sṛjyamānāḥ punaḥ punaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyudeva said: “All that is produced—insentient in nature—has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The Self, however, is not known by the guṇas, though they arise again and again. Rather, the knower of the field (kṣetrajña) clearly knows the entire insentient field—its origin, activity, and dissolution—while the guṇas cannot comprehend the Self.”

Word by Word

• {'Vāyudeva uvāca': 'Vāyudeva said', 'ādi': 'beginning, origin', 'madhya': 'middle', 'avasāna/anta': 'end, termination', 'ādi-madhyāvasānāntam': 'having beginning, middle, and end', 'sṛjyamānam': 'being created/produced

• coming into manifestation', 'acetana': 'insentient, non-conscious', 'guṇāḥ': 'the qualities/constituents of prakṛti (sattva, rajas, tamas)', 'viduḥ (√vid)': 'know, understand', 'ātmānam': 'the Self', 'punaḥ punaḥ': 'again and again', 'kṣetra': 'the field

• embodied nature/body-mind complex', 'kṣetrajña': 'knower of the field

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)
• आत्मा (Ātman)
• गुणाः (Guṇas)
• क्षेत्र (Kṣetra)
• क्षेत्रज्ञ (Kṣetrajña)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes the insentient, changeful products of prakṛti (the guṇas and their effects) from the conscious Self (ātman/kṣetrajña). The field of experience has a beginning, middle, and end, but the Self is the knowing principle that can comprehend the field; the guṇas, though repeatedly arising, cannot comprehend the Self.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a philosophical teaching about kṣetra and kṣetrajña: the embodied, produced world is insentient and transient, while the Self is the enduring knower. The statement functions as guidance toward discernment and detachment rather than as a description of external action.