Shloka 7

Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga

Adhyātma-Upadeśa

Devanagari script

अतः: पर प्रवक्ष्यामि सच्त्वक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्यथा । संयोगो विप्रयोगश्न तन्निबोधत सत्तमा:

Transliteration

ataḥ paraṁ pravakṣyāmi sattva-kṣetrajñayor yathā | saṁyogo viprayogaś ca tan nibodhata sattamāḥ śreṣṭha-maharṣayaḥ ||

Translation

Vì vậy, nay ta sẽ lần lượt giảng rõ: nguyên lý sinh động (sattva) và Kẻ Biết của cánh đồng (kṣetrajña) kết hợp với nhau thế nào, và lại lìa nhau ra sao. Hãy lắng nghe kỹ lời dạy này, hỡi những bậc hiền đức tối thượng, hỡi các đại hiền triết bậc nhất—vì đây là sự hiểu biết dẫn đường cho hạnh đúng và tự do nội tâm.

Word by Word

• अतः: therefore, hence
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अतः

• परम्: the higher (truth/teaching)
• परम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• प्रवक्ष्यामि: I shall explain
• प्रवक्ष्यामि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सत्त्व: of the being / of sattva
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्त्व
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• क्षेत्रज्ञयोः: of the two knowers of the field (kṣetrajña)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षेत्रज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Dual

• यथा: how, in what manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• संयोगः: union, conjunction
• संयोगः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: संयोग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विप्रयोगः: separation, disjunction
• विप्रयोगः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्रयोग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• तत्: that (matter)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• निबोधत: understand; listen attentively
• Type: Verb
• Root: बुध्
• Form: Imperative (Loṭ), Second, Plural, Parasmaipada

• सत्तमाः: O best ones
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Plural

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• maharṣis (great seers)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Vāyudeva introduces an explanation of how the conscious knower (kṣetrajña) becomes associated with the principle of embodied experience (sattva) and how that association ceases—an inquiry meant to support discernment, ethical steadiness, and release from confusion about self and experience.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses an audience of eminent seers, signaling a formal instruction: he is about to expound a doctrinal account of union and separation between sattva and kṣetrajña, asking them to listen with focused attention.