Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 2
क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत।
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम।।
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम।।
kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama
also searched as "kshetragyam chapi mam viddhi sarva kshetreshu bharata"
Translation
And know Me also as the Knower of all Fields, O Arjuna. In My view, the knowledge of the Field and its Knower is the true knowledge.
Vāṇi's rendering
Know me as the knower within every field. To know the field and its knower — that is knowledge.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| क्षेत्रज्ञम्kṣetra-jñam | the knower of the field — the one aware of the body and all that happens in it |
| चca | and (joined by sandhi in cāpi) |
| अपिapi | also, indeed (second half of cāpi) |
| माम्mām | me — Krishna speaking |
| विद्धिviddhi | know, recognise |
| सर्वक्षेत्रेषुsarva-kṣetreṣu | in all fields, in every body |
| भारतbhārata | O Arjuna, descendant of Bharata |
| क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोःkṣetra-kṣetrajñayoḥ | of the field and of its knower, of the two together |
| ज्ञानम्jñānam | knowing, understanding |
| यत्yat | which |
| तत्tat | that (appears as taj before jñānam) |
| ज्ञानम्jñānam | is knowledge, real knowing |
| मतम्matam | held to be, considered |
| ममmama | mine — Krishna's own view |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 2 mean?
It means the one who knows your body and mind from within is not a private self locked in your skin. Krishna says that knower is himself, present in every field alike. And he defines real knowledge narrowly: the ability to tell what is seen from the one who sees it. Nothing else earns the name.
Who is the kshetrajna, the knower of the field?
The field is everything that can be observed — body, senses, thoughts, feelings, memories. The kṣetrajña is the one to whom all of that appears. Krishna claims that position in every body that exists, not as many watchers but as one knowing. Your sense of being present is that same knowing, wearing your name.
Why does Krishna call this the highest knowledge?
Because every other knowledge is knowledge of the field — useful, endless, and never final. This one changes the knower. When you can see that fear, fatigue and opinion are things appearing to you rather than things you are, suffering loses its grip. Krishna calls that jñāna and stakes his own word on it.
What does kshetragyam chapi mam viddhi sarva kshetreshu bharata teach?
It teaches that the awareness looking out of you is the same awareness looking out of everyone. Krishna addresses Arjuna by lineage, then dissolves the very ground for separating one life from another. Learn to notice the difference between what changes in you and what quietly knows it changing.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just named the body a field. Now he names the one who knows it, and the name is me: the knower in every field, not only in yours. Count the bodies alive right now; there is one knowing in all of them. Then he defines knowledge, and the definition is startlingly small. Not scripture, not powers, not certainty about the world. Just this: telling the field from its knower. The ache in your back is field. The mood that arrived at dawn is field. The one who noticed both is not. Practise that distinction, and you have what Krishna calls knowledge.