Bhagavad Gita — Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga, Shloka 2
Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga
श्रीभगवानुवाच । इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते । एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः ॥ १३.२ ॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca | idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate | etad yo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tad-vidaḥ || 13.2 ||
Śrī Bhagavān bersabda: Wahai putera Kuntī, tubuh ini disebut kṣetra (medan). Dia yang mengetahuinya, oleh para mengetahui kebenaran disebut kṣetrajña (yang mengetahui medan).
The Blessed Lord said: This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field; one who knows it is called the knower of the field by those who understand.
The Blessed Lord said: This body, O Kaunteya, is designated as the ‘field’ (kṣetra). The one who knows this is called the ‘knower of the field’ (kṣetrajña) by those who know.
No major doctrinal divergence: traditional renderings often emphasize the body as the locus of experience and action; academic/literal translations keep the technical pair kṣetra/kṣetrajña foregrounded. Minor wording differences across editions typically concern particles and sandhi, not the core sense.
FAQs
The verse frames the body (and by extension psychophysical processes) as an object of awareness, encouraging reflective distance: one can observe sensations, emotions, and thoughts as occurring in a ‘field’ rather than being identical with the observer.
It introduces a dual-aspect analysis: kṣetra as the domain of changeable phenomena and kṣetrajña as the knowing principle. Later verses refine whether the knower is individual, universal, or both depending on interpretive tradition.
This begins the chapter’s systematic teaching on the distinction between the field (constituted nature) and the knower (conscious principle), setting up definitions and lists that follow.
Useful for contemplative practices and ethical self-regulation: treating bodily and mental states as observable can reduce reactivity and support clearer decision-making.