TEXT 17
ज्योतिषामपि तज्ज्योतिस्तमसः परमुच्यते ।
ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं ज्ञानगम्यं हृदि सर्वस्य धिष्ठितम् ।। 17 ।।
avibhaktaṁ ca bhūteṣu
vibhaktam iva ca sthitam
bhūta-bhartṛ ca taj jñeyaṁ
grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca
avibhaktam – without division; ca – also; bhūteṣu – in all living beings; vibhaktam – divided; iva – as if; ca – also; sthitam – situated; bhūta-bhartṛ – the maintainer of all living entities; ca – also; tat – that; jñeyam – to be understood; grasiṣṇu – devouring; prabhaviṣṇu – developing; ca – also.
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.
The Lord is situated in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul. Does this mean that He has become divided? No. Actually, He is one. The example is given of the sun: The sun, at the meridian, is situated in its place. But if one goes for five thousand miles in all directions and asks, “Where is the sun?” everyone will say that it is shining on his head. In the Vedic literature this example is given to show that although He is undivided, He is situated as if divided. Also it is said in Vedic literature that one Viṣṇu is present everywhere by His omnipotence, just as the sun appears in many places to many persons. And the Supreme Lord, although the maintainer of every living entity, devours everything at the time of annihilation.
This was confirmed in the Eleventh Chapter when the Lord said that He had come to devour all the warriors assembled at Kurukṣetra. He also mentioned that in the form of time He devours also. He is the annihilator, the killer of all. When there is creation, He develops all from their original state, and at the time of annihilation He devours them. The Vedic hymns confirm the fact that He is the origin of all living entities and the rest of all. After creation, everything rests in His omnipotence, and after annihilation everything again returns to rest in Him. These are the confirmations of Vedic hymns. Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante yena jātāni jīvanti yat prayanty abhisaṁ viśanti tad brahma tad vijijñāsasva (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.1).
TEXT 18
इति क्षेत्रं तथा ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं चोक्तं समासतः ।
मद्भक्त एतद्विज्ञाय मद्भावायोपपद्यते ।। 18 ।।
jyotiṣām api taj jyotis
tamasaḥ param ucyate
jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ jñāna-gamyaṁ
hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam
jyotiṣām – in all luminous objects; api – also; tat – that; jyotiḥ – the source of light; tamasaḥ – the darkness; param – beyond; ucyate – is said; jñānam – knowledge; jñeyam – to be known; jñāna-gamyam – to be approached by knowledge; hṛdi – in the heart; sarvasya – of everyone; viṣṭhitam – situated.
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.
The Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of light in all luminous objects like the sun, moon and stars. In the Vedic literature we find that in the spiritual kingdom there is no need of sun or moon, because the effulgence of the Supreme Lord is there. In the material world that brahma-jyotir, the Lord’s spiritual effulgence, is covered by the mahat-tattva, the material elements; therefore in this material world we require the assistance of sun, moon, electricity, etc., for light. But in the spiritual world there is no need of such things. It is clearly stated in the Vedic literature that because of His luminous effulgence, everything is illuminated. It is clear, therefore, that His situation is not in the material world. He is situated in the spiritual world, which is far, far away in the spiritual sky. That is also confirmed in the Vedic literature. Āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8). He is just like the sun, eternally luminous, but He is far, far beyond the darkness of this material world.
His knowledge is transcendental. The Vedic literature confirms that Brahman is concentrated transcendental knowledge. To one who is anxious to be transferred to that spiritual world, knowledge is given by the Supreme Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart. One Vedic mantra (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.18) says, taṁ ha devam ātma-buddhi-prakāśaṁ mumukṣur vai śaraṇam ahaṁ prapadye. One must surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead if he at all wants liberation. As far as the goal of ultimate knowledge is concerned, it is also confirmed in Vedic literature: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti. “Only by knowing Him can one surpass the boundary of birth and death.” (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8)
He is situated in everyone’s heart as the supreme controller. The Supreme has legs and hands distributed everywhere, and this cannot be said of the individual soul. Therefore that there are two knowers of the field of activity – the individual soul and the Supersoul – must be admitted. One’s hands and legs are distributed locally, but Kṛṣṇa’s hands and legs are distributed everywhere. This is confirmed in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.17): sarvasya prabhum īśānaṁ sarvasya śaraṇaṁ bṛhat. That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Supersoul, is the prabhu, or master, of all living entities; therefore He is the ultimate shelter of all living entities. So there is no denying the fact that the Supreme Supersoul and the individual soul are always different.
TEXT 19
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव विद्धयनादी उभावपि ।
विकारांश्च गुणांश्चैव विद्धि प्रकृतिसम्भवान् ।। 19 ।।
iti kṣetraṁ tathā jñānaṁ
jñeyaṁ coktaṁ samāsataḥ
mad-bhakta etad vijñāya
mad-bhāvāyopapadyate
iti – thus; kṣetram – the field of activities (the body); tathā – also; jñānam – knowledge; jñeyam – the knowable; ca – also; uktam – described; samāsataḥ – in summary; mat-bhaktaḥ – My devotee; etat – all this; vijñāya – after understanding; mat-bhāvāya – to My nature; upapadyate – attains.
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.
The Lord has described in summary the body, knowledge and the knowable. This knowledge is of three things: the knower, the knowable and the process of knowing. Combined, these are called vijñāna, or the science of knowledge. Perfect knowledge can be understood by the unalloyed devotees of the Lord directly. Others are unable to understand. The monists say that at the ultimate stage these three items become one, but the devotees do not accept this. Knowledge and development of knowledge mean understanding oneself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We are being led by material consciousness, but as soon as we transfer all consciousness to Kṛṣṇa’s activities and realize that Kṛṣṇa is everything, then we attain real knowledge. In other words, knowledge is nothing but the preliminary stage of understanding devotional service perfectly. In the Fifteenth Chapter this will be very clearly explained.
Now, to summarize, one may understand that verses 6 and 7, beginning from mahā-bhūtāni and continuing through cetanā dhṛtiḥ, analyze the material elements and certain manifestations of the symptoms of life. These combine to form the body, or the field of activities. And verses 8 through 12, from amānitvam through tattva-jñānārtha-darśanam, describe the process of knowledge for understanding both types of knower of the field of activities, namely the soul and the Supersoul. Then verses 13 through 18, beginning from anādi mat-param and continuing through hṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam, describe the soul and the Supreme Lord, or the Supersoul.
Thus three items have been described: the field of activity (the body), the process of understanding, and both the soul and the Supersoul. It is especially described here that only the unalloyed devotees of the Lord can understand these three items clearly. So for these devotees Bhagavad-gītā is fully useful; it is they who can attain the supreme goal, the nature of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. In other words, only devotees, and not others, can understand Bhagavad-gītā and derive the desired result.
TEXT 20
कार्यकारणकर्तृत्वे हेतुः प्रकृतिरुच्यते ।
पुरुषः सुखदुःखानां भोक्तृत्वे हेतुरुच्यते ।। 20 ।।
prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva
viddhy anādī ubhāv api
vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva
viddhi prakṛti-sambhavān
prakṛtim – material nature; puruṣam – the living entities; ca – also; eva – certainly; viddhi – you must know; anādī – without beginning; ubhau – both; api – also; vikārān – transformations; ca – also; guṇān – the three modes of nature; ca – also; eva – certainly; viddhi – know; prakṛti – material nature; sambhavān – produced of.
Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature.
By the knowledge given in this chapter, one can understand the body (the field of activities) and the knowers of the body (both the individual soul and the Supersoul). The body is the field of activity and is composed of material nature. The individual soul that is embodied and enjoying the activities of the body is the puruṣa, or the living entity. He is one knower, and the other is the Supersoul. Of course, it is to be understood that both the Supersoul and the individual entity are different manifestations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The living entity is in the category of His energy, and the Supersoul is in the category of His personal expansion.
Both material nature and the living entity are eternal. That is to say that they existed before the creation. The material manifestation is from the energy of the Supreme Lord, and so also are the living entities, but the living entities are of the superior energy. Both the living entities and material nature existed before this cosmos was manifested. Material nature was absorbed in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mahā-viṣṇu, and when it was required,
