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:

Transliteration

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

Translation

风神伐由说道：“凡所生起者——本性无觉——皆有始、有中、有终。然而真我并不为诸质（guṇa）所知，纵使诸质一再生起亦复如是。反之，知田者（kṣetrajña）清楚了知整个无觉之田——其起源、其作用与其归灭——而诸质终不能领会真我。”

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.