Bhagavad Gita 13.2 · Krishna
Your body is a field
इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते।
एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः॥
śrībhagavānuvācaidaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetramityabhidhīyateetadyo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ
Kaunteya, son of Kunti, this body is called the field. The wise call the one who knows it the knower of the field.
Words
- kṣetra
- kṣetrajña
What it means
Krishna begins with a farmer's image. The body is kshetra, a field. The kshetrajna is the one who knows the field. You can watch your body change. So you are not only the body. You are also its knower.
The story
Arjuna stands in armour, hands shaking, mouth dry. He has told Krishna his limbs are failing, his skin burning. Now Krishna offers him a new place to stand. The trembling belongs to the field. Arjuna is also the one who sees it.
In your life
A runner wakes with a stiff knee on race morning. She notices the ache, the worry about the ache, and the quiet one who notices both. Today, when your body complains, say gently: this is the field, and I am watching.
The body is the field. You also know it.