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Shloka 16

Brahmopadeśa: Ahiṃsā, Jñāna, and the Kṣetrajña–Sattva Analysis

Chapter 49

अतः: परं तु यद्‌ गुहां तद्‌ भवान्‌ वक्तुमर्हति । सत्त्वक्षेत्रज्ञयो श्वापि सम्बन्ध: केन हेतुना,इसलिये जो परम गुह्य तत्त्व है, वह आपको हमें बतलाना चाहिये। साथ ही यह भी बतलाइये कि बुद्धि और क्षेत्रज्षका सम्बन्ध किस कारणसे हुआ है?

ataḥ paraṁ tu yad guhyaṁ tad bhavān vaktum arhati | sattva-kṣetrajñayor api sambandhaḥ kena hetunā ||

پس جو وہ اعلیٰ ترین نہایت رازدارانہ حقیقت ہے، آپ ہمیں بیان فرمائیں۔ اور یہ بھی بتائیے کہ سَتْوَ (باطنی قوّت/اندرونی کیفیت) اور کْشیتْرَجْنَ (میدانِ وجود کا جاننے والا، آتما) کے درمیان تعلق کس سبب سے پیدا ہوتا ہے؟

अतःtherefore, hence
अतः:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअतः
परम्further, next
परम्:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootपर
तुbut, however
तु:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतु
यत्which, that (thing)
यत्:
Karma
TypePronoun
Rootयद्
Formneuter, nominative/accusative, singular
गुह्यम्secret, confidential
गुह्यम्:
Karma
TypeAdjective
Rootगुह्य
Formneuter, nominative/accusative, singular
तत्that
तत्:
Karma
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
Formneuter, nominative/accusative, singular
भवान्you (honorific)
भवान्:
Karta
TypePronoun
Rootभवत्
Formmasculine, nominative, singular
वक्तुम्to speak, to tell
वक्तुम्:
TypeVerb
Rootवच्
Formtumun (infinitive)
अर्हतिis fit/ought
अर्हति:
TypeVerb
Rootअर्ह्
Formpresent (lat), 3rd, singular, parasmaipada
सत्त्वक्षेत्रज्ञयोःof sattva and kṣetrajña (knower of the field)
सत्त्वक्षेत्रज्ञयोः:
TypeNoun
Rootसत्त्वक्षेत्रज्ञ
Formmasculine, genitive, dual
अपिalso, even
अपि:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअपि
सम्बन्धःconnection, relation
सम्बन्धः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootसम्बन्ध
Formmasculine, nominative, singular
केनby what, through what
केन:
Karana
TypePronoun
Rootकिम्
Formmasculine/neuter, instrumental, singular
हेतुनाby (what) cause/reason
हेतुना:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootहेतु
Formmasculine, instrumental, singular

वायुदेव उवाच

V
Vāyudeva
B
bhavān (addressed interlocutor)
S
sattva
K
kṣetrajña

Educational Q&A

The verse frames a philosophical inquiry: the listener requests the highest esoteric truth and specifically asks for the causal basis of the linkage between sattva (the mind’s clarifying/purifying principle or inner faculty) and the kṣetrajña (the conscious Self). It points toward a kṣetra–kṣetrajña analysis where liberation depends on discerning how consciousness appears associated with mental qualities.

Vāyudeva, speaking within a didactic dialogue, urges the other speaker to disclose the ‘supreme secret’ teaching. The request is not merely for doctrine but for an explanation of causality—why and how the Self (kṣetrajña) seems connected to the inner constitution (sattva), a key issue in Mahābhārata’s Sāṅkhya-Yoga style instruction.