The battlefield of Kurukshetra lies still, yet within Arjuna’s heart a new question arises. He has heard of devotion, of meditation, of knowledge, of the cosmic form. Yet he seeks deeper clarity. What is this body he carries? What is the soul that dwells within? What is the difference between matter and spirit, between the changing and the eternal?
He bows to Krishna with reverence.
O Krishna, I long to understand the truth of this body and the soul. What is called the field, and who is the knower of the field? What is knowledge, and what is to be known?
Krishna’s gaze deepens. His voice, calm as the infinite ocean and firm as a mountain, begins to unfold the mystery.
Arjuna, the body is called the field. It is the ground of experience, where birth and death, pleasure and pain, action and reaction unfold. He who knows this body, who knows it as it truly is, is called the knower of the field. And know this, O Arjuna — I am the knower of the field in all beings. To understand the body and the soul, to see the eternal beyond the changing, this is true knowledge.
What is this field? It is formed of the five great elements — earth, water, fire, air, and space. It is shaped by mind, intellect, and ego. Within it dwell the senses and their objects. Within it arise desire and hatred, pleasure and pain, life and death. This is the field.
But beyond this lies the knower, the self, untouched and eternal.
Arjuna listens intently as Krishna’s words flow like a river of light.
True knowledge is humility, nonviolence, forgiveness, honesty, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control. It is detachment from sense-pleasures, absence of ego, awareness of the pain of birth, death, old age, and disease. It is renunciation, evenness in pleasure and sorrow, devotion to Me with single-mindedness, love of solitude, steadiness in meditation, and vision of the eternal truth.
All else is ignorance. Knowledge is to see the eternal in all.
And what is to be known? It is the supreme reality, beginningless, without end, beyond existence and non-existence. It is beyond senses, beyond mind, yet it dwells in all. It shines through all. It is both near and far, inside and outside, unmoving yet faster than the mind.
It is the light of lights, beyond darkness. It is wisdom itself, the goal of wisdom, seated in the hearts of all beings. This is the eternal. This is the knower.
Arjuna bows his head. His heart fills with awe as Krishna reveals the union of matter and spirit. Krishna continues.
The body and the soul are without beginning, but the modes of nature — sattva, rajas, and tamas — bind the soul to the body. From these arise desire, action, attachment, and consequence.
But the supreme knower is untouched. He dwells in the body, yet is not bound by it. He sees, He permits, He sustains, He experiences, He witnesses. He is the Lord within.
He who sees that the eternal self is one in all bodies, though bodies differ, truly sees. He who sees that action is done by nature, yet the self is beyond action, truly sees.
Such vision leads to freedom. The self, dwelling in the body, neither acts nor is bound. Like the vast sky, it remains untouched though clouds gather. Like the sun, it illumines, yet is not stained by what it shines upon.
Arjuna’s heart trembles with understanding. He sees his own body as the field, his own soul as the knower, Krishna as the supreme knower within all. The battlefield, the warriors, the struggle — all are part of the field. But the soul is beyond.
Krishna concludes, His voice like the steady flame of a lamp.
He who knows the difference between the field and the knower, who sees liberation from the bondage of nature, he attains the supreme. Such a one is free.
Closing Reflection in Krishna’s Voice
O listener, you too live within the field of the body. You experience joy and sorrow, gain and loss, birth and death. Yet you are not the field. You are the knower, eternal and untouched.
Do not mistake the changing for the eternal. Do not cling to the body as the self. See the difference. See the truth. Know the body as the field, the soul as the knower, and Krishna as the supreme knower in all.
To live with this vision is to live in freedom. This is the yoga of the field and the knower of the field.
Soft Call to Action
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