arjuna uvaca
prakritim purusham caiva
kshetram kshetra-jnam eva ca
etad veditum icchami
jnanam jneyam ca keshava

sri-bhagavan uvaca
idam sariram kaunteya
kshetram ity abhidhiyate
etad yo vetti tam prahuh
kshetra-jna iti tad-vidah

"Arjuna said: O my dear Krishna, I wish to know about prakriti [nature], purusha [the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field."

kshetra-jnam capi mam viddhi
sarva-kshetresu bharata
kshetra-kshetrajnayor jnanam
yat taj jnanam matam mama

"O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its knower is called knowledge. That is My opinion."

tat kshetram yac ca yadrk ca
yad-vikari yatas ca yat
sa ca yo yat-prabhavas ca
tat samasena me shrinu

"Now please hear My brief description of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, whence it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are."

rsibhir bahudha gitam
chandobhir vividhaih prithak
brahma-sutra-padais caiva
hetumadbhir viniscitaih

"That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is described by various sages in various Vedic writings. It is especially presented in Vedanta-sutra with all reasoning as to cause and effect."

maha-bhutany ahankaro
buddhir avyaktam eva ca
indriyani dasaikam ca
panca cendriya-gocarah

iccha dvesah sukham duhkham
sanghatas cetana dhrtih
etat kshetram samasena
sa-vikaram udahrtam

"The five great elements, false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the ten senses and the mind, the five sense objects, desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions—all these are considered, in summary, to be the field of activities and its interactions."

amanitvam adambhitvam
ahimsa ksantir arjavam
acaryopasanam shaucam
sthairyam atma-vinigrahah

(9)

indriyarthesu vairagyam
anahankara eva ca
janma-mrityu-jara-vyadhi-
duhkha-dosanudarshanam

(10)

ashaktir anabhisvangah
putra-dara-grhadisu
nityam ca sama-cittatvam
istanistopapattisu

(11)

mayi cananya-yogena
bhaktir avyabhicarini
vivikta-desa-sevitvam
aratir jana-samsadi

(12)

adhyatma-jnana-nityatvam
tattva-jnanartha-darshanam
etaj jnanam iti proktam
ajnanam yad ato ’nyatha 

"Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance."

jneyam yat tat pravaksyami
yaj jnatvamritam asnute
anadi mat-param brahma
na sat tan nasad ucyate

"I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world."

sarvatah pani-padam tat
sarvato ’ksi-siro-mukham
sarvatah shrutimal loke
sarvam avrtya tishthati

"Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything."

sarvendriya-gunabhasam
sarvendriya-vivarjitam
asaktam sarva-bhrc caiva
nirgunam guna-bhoktr ca

"The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, although He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time He is the master of all the modes of material nature."

bahir antas ca bhutanam
acaram caram eva ca
suksmatvat tad avijneyam
dura-stham cantike ca tat

"The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the nonmoving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all."

avibhaktam ca bhutesu
vibhaktam iva ca sthitam
bhuta-bhartr ca taj jneyam
grasisnu prabhavishnu ca

"Although the Supersoul appears to be divided among all beings, He is never divided. He is situated as one. Although He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to be understood that He devours and develops all."

jyotisam api taj jyotis
tamasah param ucyate
jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam
hridi sarvasya visthitam

"He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart."

iti kshetram tatha jnanam
jneyam coktam samasatah
mad-bhakta etad vijnaya
mad-bhavayopapadyate

"Thus the field of activities [the body], knowledge and the knowable have been summarily described by Me. Only My devotees can understand this thoroughly and thus attain to My nature."

prakritim purusham caiva
viddhy anadi ubhav api
vikarams ca gunams caiva
viddhi prakriti-sambhavan

"Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature."

karya-karana-kartrtve
hetuh prakritir ucyate
purushah sukha-duhkhanam
bhoktrtve hetur ucyate

"Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world."

purushah prakriti-stho hi
bhunkte prakriti-jan gunan
karanam guna-sango ’sya
sad-asad-yoni-janmasu 

"The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species."

upadrastanumanta ca
bharta bhokta maheshvarah
paramatmeti capy ukto
dehe ’smin purushah parah

"Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul."

ya evam vetti purusham
prakritim ca gunaih saha
sarvatha vartamano ’pi
na sa bhuyo ’bhijayate

"One who understands this philosophy concerning material nature, the living entity and the interaction of the modes of nature is sure to attain liberation. He will not take birth here again, regardless of his present position."

dhyanenatmani pasyanti
kecid atmanam atmana
anye sankhyena yogena
karma-yogena capare

"Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through meditation, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still others through working without fruitive desires."

anye tv evam ajanantah
srutvanyebhya upasate
te ’pi catitaranty eva
mrityum shruti-parayanah

"Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death."