Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 13, Verse 3
तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक् च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत्।स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे श्रृणु।।
tat kṣetraṁ yac ca yādṛk ca yad-vikāri yataś ca yat
sa ca yo yat-prabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me śṛṇu
also searched as "tat kshetram yach cha yadrik cha yad-vikari yatash cha yat"
Translation
Listen briefly from Me what the Field is, what it is like, what its modifications are, what purpose it serves, and what it is; as well as who the Self is and what its powers are.
Vāṇi's rendering
What the field is, how it changes, where it comes from; and who the knower is, what his power — hear briefly.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तत्tat | that |
| क्षेत्रम्kṣetraṁ | the field — this body and all that can be observed in it |
| यत्yat | what it is |
| चca | and |
| यादृक्yādṛk | of what nature, what it is like |
| चca | and |
| यद्-विकारिyad-vikāri | what its changes are (yat + vikāri joined by sandhi) |
| यतःyataḥ | from what it arises (yataś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| यत्yat | which, what |
| सःsaḥ | he — the knower of the field (sa before ca) |
| चca | and |
| यःyaḥ | who he is (yo before yat) |
| यत्-प्रभावःyat-prabhāvaḥ | what his power is (yat-prabhāvaś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| तत्tat | that, all of it |
| समासेनsamāsena | briefly, in short |
| मेme | from me |
| शृणुśṛṇu | hear, listen |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 Verse 3 mean?
Krishna sets out what he is about to explain: the nature of the field, how it changes, what it comes from, who its knower is, and what power that knower holds. He promises to say it briefly — samāsena. It is an announcement of the teaching, and an instruction to listen rather than argue.
What does tat kshetram yach cha yadrik cha teach about listening?
The verse ends with me śṛṇu — hear it from me. Krishna does not ask Arjuna to analyse or to debate. Some knowledge cannot be assembled from the outside; it has to be received. Before you can tell the field from its knower, you must be still enough for the distinction to be spoken into you.
Why does Krishna say he will explain the field only briefly?
Because the field is endless in detail and the point is not detail. Every organ, mood and memory belongs to it; listing them forever would not free you. Krishna compresses so that the essential line stays visible — this is field, and that is the one who knows it. Brevity here is mercy.
How does this verse apply to daily life?
It gives you an order of operations. Before fixing the body, the mood, the circumstance, first ask what kind of thing they are and who is watching them. Most of your distress comes from treating the field as the self. Krishna is about to draw the line. Your part is to stop talking and hear it.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Six questions in a single breath, and then a promise to answer them briefly. Krishna is laying out the syllabus before he teaches it — what the field is, how it shifts, where it came from, who knows it, what that knower can do. Notice that he does not say study, or reason it out. He says hear. This knowledge arrives the way a voice arrives: from someone who already knows, to someone willing to go quiet. Arjuna's part for the next several verses is silence. Yours too — before you take apart what you are made of, you have to stop talking about it.