190. Characteristics of Kshetra




Krishna refers to the physical body (shariram) as kshetra (field) and explains briefly its characteristics, its cause-and-effect (vikar); about kshetrajna (knower of the field) and the nature of His powers. He cautions that these were described by various sages and several spiritual texts in many ways (13.4 and 13.5). An important point is that kshetra and kshetrajna are described by various sages and texts in different ways. This is a universal problem where truth is described by different people in different ways in different languages making our understanding difficult. Krishna cautions about not getting lost in words.

Krishna says, “Succinctly described, the kshetra and its modifications are composed of the fundamental elements (fire, air, water, earth and space), ahankaar, intellect (buddhi), unmanifested (avyakta), ten senses, mind and the five objects of the senses (13.6) and desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, assemblage (material body), consciousness (chetana) and persistence” (13.7).

The fundamental elements are fire (energy); three states of matter - earth (solid), water (liquid) and air (gaseous); and space to hold all of them. The five sense-objects are sight for eyes, sound for ears, smell for nose, taste for tongue and touch for skin. The ten senses are five organs of perception (jnana-indriya) -eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin and five organs of action (karma-indriya) hands, legs, speech, generative organ and organ of defecation. The rest are various feelings generated in us which become a part of kshetra. The interplay between them is what we perceive as life.

Two surprise elements are unmanifested and consciousness (chetana) which are usually considered beyond the human body. Krishna says that they too are a part of kshetra but not kshetrajna. An unmanifested tree is hidden in the seed and in that sense unmanifested is also a part of kshetra. Consciousness is still conscious of something or needs something for its existence. Hence, it is a part of kshetra.


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