Shloka 12
Jaḍa Bharata Instructs King Rahūgaṇa: The Mind as Bondage and the Two Kṣetrajñas
क्षेत्रज्ञ एता मनसो विभूती- र्जीवस्य मायारचितस्य नित्या: । आविर्हिता: क्वापि तिरोहिताश्च शुद्धो विचष्टे ह्यविशुद्धकर्तु: ॥ १२ ॥
kṣetrajña etā manaso vibhūtīr jīvasya māyā-racitasya nityāḥ āvirhitāḥ kvāpi tirohitāś ca śuddho vicaṣṭe hy aviśuddha-kartuḥ
ดวงวิญญาณผู้ไร้สำนึกแห่งพระกฤษณะมีความคิดและการกระทำมากมายที่มายาภายนอกปรุงแต่งในใจมาแต่กาลอนันต์ บางคราวปรากฏในยามตื่นและยามฝัน แต่ในหลับลึกหรือสมาธิย่อมหายไป ผู้เป็นชีวันมุกตะย่อมเห็นสิ่งเหล่านี้อย่างแจ่มชัด
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (13.3) , kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata. There are two kinds of kṣetrajña, or living beings. One is the individual living being, and the other is the supreme living being. The ordinary living being knows about his body to some extent, but the Supreme, Paramātmā, knows the condition of all bodies. The individual living being is localized, and the Supreme, Paramātmā, is all-pervading. In this śloka the word kṣetrajña refers to an ordinary living being, not the supreme living being. This ordinary living being is of two kinds — nitya-baddha or nitya-mukta. One is eternally conditioned and the other eternally liberated. The eternally liberated living beings are in the Vaikuṇṭha jagat, the spiritual world, and they never fall into the material world. Those in the material world are conditioned souls, nitya-baddha. The nitya-baddhas can become liberated by controlling the mind because the cause of conditioned life is the mind. When the mind is trained and the soul is not under the mind’s control, the soul can be liberated even in this material world. When it is liberated, one is called jīvan-mukta. A jīvan-mukta knows how he has become conditioned; therefore he tries to purify himself and return home, back to Godhead. The eternally conditioned soul is eternally conditioned because he is controlled by the mind. The conditioned state and liberated state are compared to the sleeping, unconscious state and the awakened state. Those who are sleeping and unconscious are eternally conditioned, but those who are awake understand that they are eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore even in this material world, they engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service. As confirmed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī: īhā yasya harer dāsye. If one takes to Kṛṣṇa’s service, he is liberated, even though he appears to be a conditioned soul within the material world. Jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate. In any condition, one is to be considered liberated if his only business is to serve Kṛṣṇa.
FAQs
This verse explains that the mind’s changing states appear and disappear, while the pure self (kṣetrajña) remains a steady witness, simply observing without being inherently affected.
Rahūgaṇa was entangled in bodily and mental identification; Jaḍa Bharata instructs him to distinguish the witnessing self from the mind and the conditioned sense of doership created by māyā.
When emotions and thoughts rise and fall, practice observing them without immediate identification—reducing reactive behavior and strengthening spiritual discernment and detachment.