Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness

Let me offer my respects to the Lord’s bhakti, which, by its mercy, resides within jñāna and other processes to a small degree in order to bring about success in those processes. In the last six chapters of the Gītā, jñāna mixed with bhakti is delineated. Within these six chapters, kevalā bhakti also is shown indirectly to be supreme. In the thirteenth chapter, the body where jīva and Paramātmā reside, the practice of jñāna, the jīva and prakṛti are described.

In the middle six chapters, it was mentioned that by kevalā bhakti one attains the Lord, Bhagavān, and three other methods of worship, starting with worship of oneself, were then described. Liberation arising from jñāna mixed with bhakti practiced by followers of niṣkāma-karma-yoga and the process of jñāna were briefly described in the first six chapters. The third six chapters explain this jñāna in detail by first examining the field, the knower of the field, the process of knowledge and the object of knowledge.

This verse answers the question “What is the field and who is the knower of the field?” This body with senses, the abode of enjoyment, is the field, since it is the basis for sprouting the tree of repeated births. He who knows that body in terms of “I and mine” in the conditioned state due his attachment to that body, and he who, being devoid of the conception of “I and mine” in the liberated state, knows that he is not attached to that body, is the jīva. He is called the knower of the field, situated in these two conditions. Like one who ploughs the field, he is the knower of the field, and is the enjoyer of the fruit. The Lord says:

adanti caikaṁ phalam asya gṛdhrā

grāme-carā ekam araṇya-vāsāḥ

haṁsā ya ekaṁ bahu-rūpam ijyair

māyā-mayaṁ veda sa veda vedam

Those lusty after material enjoyment and dedicated to family life enjoy one of the tree’s fruits, and swanlike men in the renounced order of life enjoy the other fruit. One who with the help of the bona fide spiritual masters can understand this tree to be a manifestation of the potency of the one Supreme Truth appearing in many forms actually knows the meaning of the Vedic literature. SB 11.12.23

The meaning of this verse from Bhāgavatam is as follows. Gṛdhraḥ means “those who desire.” Those who have desire and who move in society, the conditioned jīvas, eat one fruit of the tree called distress, because the tree has the ability to generate distress, even with its ripened fruits of Svarga. The swans, which live in the forest, the liberated jīvas, eat another fruit called happiness, because the tree has ability to generate happiness in the form of liberation. Thus, the one tree of saṁsāra has many forms since it has the capacity to let one attain hell, Svarga, and liberation. It is called māyā-mayam, made of māyā, because it is generated from the Lord’s māyā-śakti. He who knows this tree with the help of the worshipable gurus (ijyaiḥ) knows the Vedas.

Tad-vidaḥ in the Gītā verse refers to persons who know the field and the knower of the field.

It has been said that the jīva is the knower of the field because of his knowledge of his body. But the Paramātmā also is the knower of the field because He knows all bodies completely. “Know that I, the Paramātmā situated as the monitor in all the bodies, am the knower of the field. Each jīva has knowledge of his particular body, but not of all bodies. But I, though one person, have knowledge of all bodies completely.” This distinction should be understood. What is knowledge? Knowledge of the jīva and Paramātmā, both knowers of the field, along with knowledge of the field, is called knowledge according to Me.

Explaining this verse in a different way, saying that there is only one jīva in existence, one knower of the field, cannot be accepted, since that opinion is contradicted by the later statement uttamaḥ puruṣas tv anyaḥ paramātmety udāhṛtaḥ: but there is another supreme person called the Paramātmā. (15.17)

Now the Lord begins to elaborate on what He has said previously in abbreviated form.

Hear from Me in brief of what the body consists (yac ca)-- a conglomeration of five gross elements, prāṇa, senses and other things; what qualities it exhibits (yadṛk)-- such as desire and hatred; what its transformations are (yad-vikāri)—into desirable or undesirable things; from what it arises (yataḥ)--from the combination of matter and soul; by what it is distinguished (yat)--by differences among various moving or non-moving bodies; and who (yaḥ) is he (sa)--the knower of the field--the jīva and the Paramātmā.

The neuter form singular yat and tat are used instead of the masculine, though jīva, Paramātmā and the field are referred to, by the rule of grammar napuṁsakam anapuṁsakennaikavac ca (Aṣṭādhyāyī, Pāṇini 1.2.69). If there is a group of items with the same base of various genders including neuter, the neuter gender can be used to indicate all of them. This operation is called eka-śeṣa (single remainder).

“You are describing this briefly. Who then has described this in detail?”

It has been described by ṛṣis such as Vasiṣṭha in the scriptures dealing with yoga, by the Vedas (chandobhih) and by the words of the Brahma Sūtras. The Brahma Sūtras, through their words (padaiḥ) such as athāto brahma jijñāsa (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1) make known (padyate) Brahman. But what type of words are they? They are words of logic (hetumadbhir), which are very decisive (viśeṣataḥ niścitaiḥ). Examples are as follows:

īkṣater nāśabdam

Brahman is not inexpressible by words, because it is seen that it is conveyed through the words in the Vedas. Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.5

ānandamayo ’bhyāsāt

The word ānandamaya refers to para brahman because of the repeated use of the word brahman in relation to it. Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.13

In this verse, the nature of the field is described. Mahābhūtāni refers to ether, air, fire, water and earth. Ahaḍkāra refers to false ego, the cause of the mahābhūtas. Buddhi refers to mahat-tattva, composed of vijñāna, the cause of ahaḍkāra. Avyakta refers to prakṛti, the cause of mahat-tattva. Indriyāṇi refers to the ten senses: eye, ear, nose, skin, tongue, hands, feet, genital, anus and voice. Eka refers to the mind. The five indriya-gocarā are the sense objects--sound, touch, form, taste and smell. The field is made of these twenty four elements.

Saḍghāta is the body, evolving from the twenty four elements. Icchā, dveṣa, sukha and duḥkha are well known. Cetanā is the mental function constituted of knowledge. Dhṛti is perseverance. Icchā and other qualities mentioned in this verse are qualities of the mind not the soul, and thus they are included in the field. These are representative of saḍkalpa and other qualities mentioned in the śruti (not being an exhaustive list of the qualities of the mind):

kāmaḥ saḍkalpo vicikitsā śraddhā dhṛtir hrīr dhīr bhīr ity etat sarvaṁ mana eva

Desire, determination, uncertainty, faith, lack of faith, perseverance, lack of perseverance, humility, intelligence, and fear are all products of the mind. Bṛhad Āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.5.3

By this list, the qualities of the field which was previously promised by the word yadṛk in verse 3 have been shown. This field which has six transformations (savikāra), such as birth and growth, has thus been briefly described (udāhṛtam).

The two knowers of the field, the jīva and Paramātmā, which are to be known by distinguishing them from the field just mentioned will be described in detail. The twenty factors to be used for gaining that knowledge are first mentioned in five verses. Of these, eighteen are common to both the devotees and the jñānīs. However the devotees zealously engage in the one element mentioned in the eleventh verse, mayi cānanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī. The other seventeen items manifest automatically for those who engage in that one item. The bhaktas do not devote effort to the seventeen items individually. This is the tradition. The last two items are especially for the jñānīs. The meaning of the items such as amānitva is clear, therefore no comments are given.

Śauca refers to both internal and external cleanliness. The smṛti says:

śaucaṁ ca dvividhaṁ proktaṁ bāhyam abhyantaraṁ tathā

mṛj-jalābhyāṁ smṛtaṁ bāhyaṁ bhāva-śuddhis tathāntaram

There are two types of cleanliness described, internal and external. External cleanliness is by water and earth. Internal cleanliness is purity of mind.<ref name="ftn153">There is a similar verse in Śandilya Upaniṣad: śaucaṁ nāma dvividhaṁ bāhyam āntaraṁ ceti

tatra mṛj jalābhyāṁ bāhyam manaḥ śuddhir āntaram</ref>

Anudarśanam means to observe constantly the detrimental effect of sorrow, caused by birth, death, old age and disease.

Asakti means to give up affection for sons and others.

Anābhiṣvaḍga means of lack of identification with the happiness and distress of sons and others.

Sama-cittatvam means to remain calm in the face of receiving either favorable or unfavorable treatment or events.

One should have bhakti, unmixed with karma, jñāna, tapa or yoga (mayi ananya yogena bhaktir avyabhicāriṇī), unto Me, Śyāmasundara. The word ca here indicates that bhakti may also be performed with a slight mixture of jñāna or other elements (jñāna-miśra-bhakti). The first, the unmixed type, will be executed by the devotees. The second type will be executed by the jñānīs. Some devotees say however that this statement, being in the last six chapters, is for showing that just as ananyā bhakti produces prema, it is also necessary to practice for realization of Paramātmā. And if the sentence refers only to jñānīs, then the phrase ananya yogena means “by thinking of everything as ātmā.” Avyabhicāriṇī means that one should do it daily. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī says the word avyabhicāriṇī refers to bhakti which cannot be stopped by any means at all.

Adhyātma-jñāna means knowledge related to the ātmā. One should engage oneself in that knowledge constantly. This means that one should be fixed in the purity of the self (adhyātma-jñāna-nityatvam). One should always keep in mind one’s goal of mokṣa in ones cultivation of knowledge of truth (tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam).

These twenty elements are the common means of attaining knowledge of jīva and Paramātmā. (Jñānam here refers to the means of knowledge rather than knowledge itself). The additional methods necessary for realizing Paramātmā will be explained later. Doing the opposite of this, such as exhibiting pride instead of lack of pride, is called ignorance.

Thus, by means of the methods mentioned above, one should know the jīva and Paramātmā. The Paramātmā however is present in all beings and is known as Brahman. That Brahman is worshiped by the devotees as personal, with qualities, and by the jñānīs as impersonal, with no qualities. As the object of meditation with four hands situated within the body, Brahman is known as Paramātmā. This verse speaks of that Brahman first.

That form has no beginning (anādi). That means that since it is His svarūpa, it is eternal. Mat-param means “of which I alone am the supreme shelter (para).” What is it? It is called brahman (Paramātmā), of which I alone am the supreme shelter, and which is beyond cause and effect (na sad na asad). The Lord will later say brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham: I am the basis of Brahman.

The doubt may arise that if this Brahman is without cause and effect, then that contradicts the statements of śruti such as sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14) and brahmaivedaṁ sarvam (Muṇòaka Upaniṣad 2.2.12): everything is Brahman.

Though Brahman in its essential nature is beyond cause and effect, this Brahman (Paramātmā) is also cause and effect because of non- difference between the energy and the source of energy. That is stated in this verse. This Brahman has His hands and feet everywhere. By the manifestation everywhere of hands and feet of all creatures from Lord Brahmā down to the ant (His effects), one can say that Brahman is endowed with countless hands and feet. Similarly, His eyes, head, and face are everywhere.

He illuminates all the senses and sense objects (guṇa). The śruti says tac cakṣuṣaś cakṣuḥ (Kena Upaniṣad 1.2): He inspires the sight of the eye. Or the meaning can be “He shines forth or is endowed with all the senses and objects of the senses such as sound.” He however is also without all senses (sarvendriya vivarjitam). This means He is without material senses. Thus the śruti says:

apāṇi-pādo javano grahītā paśyaty acakṣuḥ sa śṛṇoty akarṇaḥ.

Without hands and feet He moves and receives. Without eyes He sees. Without ears He hears. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.1

parāsya śaktir bahudhaiva śrūyate svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca

The energy of the Lord is divided into jñāna, bala and kriyā śaktis.

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8

This meaning is valid because it is well known in the śrutis that He is the abode of the svarūpa śakti, His spiritual energy. He is without attachment (asaktam), and also maintains everything by His form of Viṣṇu (sarva-bhṛt). He has a form without the material guṇas of sattva, rajas and tamas (nirguṇa). But He is the enjoyer or taster of the six guṇas or bhagas known as aiśvarya, vīrya, yaśas, śrī, jñāna and vairāgya (guṇa-bhoktṛ).

He exists within and outside of all living entities, who are His products (bhūtānām means arising from Him), just as ether and other elements exists within and outside all bodies of which they are the cause. All non-moving and moving beings are only the Lord, since He is the cause and they are the effect. He cannot be clearly known (tad avijñeyam). In other words, for the ignorant, He is situated far away at millions of yojanas distance and for the wise He is near, as if living in that person’s house, since He is situated as the antaryāmī within the person. The śruti says:

dūrāt sudūre tad ihāntike ca paśyatsv ihaiva nihitaṁ guhāyām

He is further than far, and very close. In the body He is situated in the heart, in those who see. Muṇòaka Upaniṣad 3.1.7

As the cause, which is one (avibhaktiam), He is situated in all the moving and non-moving entities, and as the effect or product, He is situated separately as each object. As the form of Nārāyaṇa, He is the protection of the living entities (bhūtā-bhartṛ) during the duration of maintenance, the destruction (grahiṣṇu) at the time of pralaya, and the creation of all beings (prabhaviṣṇu) at the time of creation. The word prabhaviṣṇu which usually means “lord” is taken here as meaning “what is created” since the word can also mean “he who is the product (prabhavana) because the cause is manifest in the effects.”

Of the sun, moon and other light bodies, He is the illuminator (tad-jyotih), by which the sun shines, by whose power light radiates. The śruti says:

yena suryah tapati tejasendhah

By His power the sun burns. Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa 3.12.9.7, 5

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candra-tārakaṁ

nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto’yam agniḥ

tad eva bhāntam anubhāti sarvaṁ

There, the sun does not shine, nor do the moon or stars. There, lightning does not flash, what to speak of fire. Everything shines in obedience to He who shines. Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.5.15

aditya varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt

He is like the sun, beyond ignorance. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8

Jñānam means what is revealed by the function of intelligence. The Lord is that jñānam (awareness). Jñeyam means that awareness which develops a specific form, qualities etc. (jñeyam). The Lord is that object of awareness. He is attained by the process of knowledge (pridelessness etc.) mentioned previously (jñāna-gamyam). Being the form of Paramātmā, He is situated as the regulator in the hearts of all living entities (dhiṣṭhitam).

In this verse the Lord summarizes the topic about the field and other items previously described, along with the result for those who practice. The field consists of the items starting with the five gross elements and ending with dhṛti or perseverance in verses 5 and 6. Knowledge was described starting with pridelessness (amānitvam) and ending with reviewing the goal of liberation (tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam) in verses 7 through 11. The object of knowledge to be attained by the process of knowledge was described in verses 12 through 18, starting with the word anādi and ending with the word dhiṣṭhitam. The one truth known as Brahman, meaning Bhagavān and Paramātmā, has thus been briefly described.

The jñānī endowed with some devotion (mad-bhaktaḥ), knowing this, merges with Me (mad bhāvāya). An alternate meaning of the sentence is “My ekanta-bhakta, understanding that I, his master, have such powers (etad vijñāya), becomes endowed with prema (mad-bhāvāya) for Me.”

“You have described the Paramātmā as the knower of the field. But speaking of the jīva who is also the knower of the field, how does the jīva come in contact with māyā and when did it start?”

Know that māyā (prakṛti), and the jīva (puruṣa) are both without an origin (anādi), having no first cause. This is because they are śaktis of Me, the Lord who is also without origin (anādi). In verses 4 and 5 of chapter 7 it was said:

bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca

ahaḍkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

apareyam itas tv anyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi me parām

jīva-bhūtāṁ mahābāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat

From this it is understood that, because matter and jīva are both without origin, being My śaktis, their connection is also without origin (anādi). But there is a real difference between them, even though they are mutually connected. Know that the body, senses and other elements (guṇān) and the transformations of the guṇas such as happiness, distress, lamentation and illusion (vikārān), all arise from prakṛti. Know that the jīva is very different from that prakṛti which has transformed into the field.

In this verse the Lord shows the jīva’s connection with prakṛti. Prakṛti is the cause of the jīva’s unfortunate condition by offering the body (kārya), the senses which produce happiness and distress (kāraṇa) and the presiding deities of the senses (kartṛ). Prakṛti, by association with the jīva, transforms into the form of body, senses and sense devatās, and, by its function of ignorance, it becomes the bestower of the jīva’s misidentification.

The jīva (puruṣa), having the position as the enjoyer of the happiness and distress produced by prakṛti, is also the cause of the connection.

The meaning is this. Even though the body, the senses, the sense devatās and the jīva’s capacity for enjoyment (bhoktṛtva) are all qualities of prakṛti, because of the predominance of unconsciousness in the body, senses and sense devatās, and the predominance of consciousness in experiencing happiness and distress (bhoktṛ), the two get separately designated as causes according to predominance. According to this reasoning, it is said that prakṛti is the cause, by producing the body, sense and sense devatās, and jīva is the cause by his capacity to experience happiness and distress.

But the jīva, just by misidentification caused by beginningless ignorance, thinks that his capacity for action and enjoyment are his very nature, though they are just the nature of things related to him (body, senses). From this, he takes repeated birth. Situated in the body produced from prakṛti and identifying with it (prakṛti-sthaḥ), the jīva enjoys and suffers by identifying as his own (bhuḍkte) the lamentation, illusion, happiness and distress (guṇān) which are qualities of his mind (prakṛti-jān). The cause is the contact of the soul (asya) with the body, made of guṇas (guṇa-saḍgaḥ). Though the soul does not actually contact the body, the contact is fabricated through ignorance. Where does the jīva enjoy? In repeated births in life forms like devatās (sad-yoni) or animals (asad-yoni), produced by his pious or sinful actions.

Having spoken of the jīva, the Lord now speaks about the Paramātmā. Though the Lord already described Paramātmā in general and in detail from verses thirteen to eighteen, it should be understood that the present statement is made in order to clearly show that the Paramātmā is situated in all bodies along with the jīva, but different from the jīva.

In this body, there is another, supreme puruṣa, the great Lord, called the Paramātmā (paramātmā iti ca api uktaḥ). The word parama in Paramātmā clearly indicates a personal expansion of Lord (svāṁśa), distinct from the jīva, in order to defeat those who propound the theory of one soul only. He is the witness (draṣṭā) situated close to (upa) each jīva, but separate from him. He is the bestower of favors (anumantā), showing mercy by His very closeness to the jīva. The śruti says sakṣi cetaḥ kevalo nirguṇaś ca: He is the witness, the consciousness, pure, beyond the material guṇas. (Gopāla Tāpanī Upaniṣad 2.96) He is the supporter (bhartā) and the protector (bhoktā) of the jīva.

The results of this knowledge are stated in this verse. He who knows Paramātmā (puruṣam), prakṛti or māyā-śakti (along with its qualities), and the jīva (indicated only by the word ca), does not take birth again, even though in this life he may be situated in all sorts of unfavorable circumstances (sarvataḥ vartamāno ’pi), such as being overcome by sleep and having uncontrolled mind or other such problems.

Alternative methods are mentioned in two verses. Some devotees, by contemplation of the Lord (dhyānena) in the mind (atmani) without help from any other process, spontaneously (ātmanā), not by any other process except bhakti, see the Paramātmā. This is understood from a later verse: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55), only by devotion am I known. Others (anye), jñānīs, by distinguishing soul from body (sāḍkhyena), and others (apare), yogīs , by aṣṭāḍga-yoga (yogena), and others by niṣkāma-karma (karma-yogena), see Paramātmā. In this regard, jñāna-yoga, aṣṭāḍga-yoga and niṣkāma-karma-yoga are successive causes of each other and not direct causes of seeing Paramātmā. That is because their nature is sattvic (and thus the result can only be sattvic) but the nature of Paramātmā is beyond the guṇas. Moreover, it is said by the Lord:

jñānaṁ ca mayi sannyaset

A self-realized person who has cultivated scriptural knowledge up to the point of enlightenment and who is free from impersonal speculation, understanding the material universe to be simply illusion, should surrender unto Me both that knowledge and the means by which he achieved it. SB 11.19.1

bhakyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ

Only by practicing unalloyed devotional service with full faith in Me can one obtain Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. S 11.14.21

Thus, after giving up jñāna, indicated in the first of the verses quoted, becoming free from jñāna, one sees Paramātmā by bhakti alone, indicated in the second verse.

Others, who worship Paramātmā, hearing talks from various sources, also surpass death.

From this verse till the end, the Lord expands on the meaning of what He already spoke. Know that all living entities (sattvam), whether low or high, non-moving or moving, are born from the combination of field and knower of the field.

One should therefore know Paramātmā. He who sees the Paramātmā situated in the destructible bodies (vinaśyatsu) of all beings, actually sees. He is an actual jñānī.

He who sees Me situated everywhere does not make the soul (ātmānam) fall down (hinasti) by the mind (ātmanā), which wanders on the wrong path.

One who sees that all actions are done by prakṛti in the form of body and senses, and who sees that the jīva (ātmānam) is the doer only by thinking himself the body, but is not actually the doer, actually sees.

When one perceives that the various forms of the living beings, moving and non- moving (pṛthag-bhāvam), are situated in the one prakṛti at the time of pralaya, and sees at the time of creation the expansion of living entities from prakṛti, he becomes Brahman (brahma saṁpadyate).

“You have said that the jīva in contact with his body takes repeated birth (verse 22). The jīva, by thinking himself the body by being in the body, becomes contaminated by the guṇas and takes repeated birth. But the Paramātmā does not become contaminated. Why?”

He is called anādi because He has no original cause. But just as anuttama can mean parama uttama taking the ablative sense of the word (no one higher than Him), so anādi, “having no cause”, can mean the supreme cause (no other cause than Him). Therefore because He is the final cause (anāditvāt), and because the guṇas such as creation and destruction arise out of Him (nirgataḥ + guṇa = nirguṇatvāt), this Paramātmā is distinguished from the jīva. At all times, in all circumstances, He is without decrease in His own knowledge, bliss and other qualities. Though situated in the body, because He does not take up the qualities of the body, He does not think He is a doer like the jīva (na karoti)-- He does not become an enjoyer--nor does He get contaminated by the guṇas of the material body (na lipyate).

In this verse the Lord gives an example. Just as the ether, situated in mud and other places, is not contaminated because it is most subtle--not contacting the mud at all, the Paramātmā is not connected with the guṇas or faults of the material body, and therefore is not contaminated.

Using an example, the Lord shows how the Paramātmā, being the source of illumination, is not connected with the qualities of what He illuminates. Just as the sun, the illuminator, is not connected to the qualities of what He illuminates, the Paramātmā (kṣetrī) illumines everything and is not affected. The śruti says:

sūryo yathā sarva-lokasya cakṣur

na lipyate cākṣuṣair bāhya-doṣaiḥ

ekas tathā sarva-bhūtāntarātmā

na lipyate śoka-duḥkhena bāhyaḥ

Just as the sun is the eye of all people but is not contaminated by the material faults of the eyes, so the Paramātmā within all beings is not contaminated by lamentation and suffering of the material world. Kaṭha Upaniṣad 5.11

The Lord summarizes the contents of the chapter.

Those who know the difference between two knowers of the field (kṣetra-jñayoḥ), the jīva and Paramātmā, along with the field, and also the method of liberation (mokṣa) from prakṛti for the living entities (bhūta), such as meditation, achieve the supreme goal.

Among the knowers of the field, the jīva, enjoying the qualities of the field, is bound up, but is also liberated by knowledge. This is the meaning of the chapter.

Thus end the commentaries on the thirteen chapter of the Gītā for the pleasure of the devotees’ minds, by the mercy of the ācāryas.