अर्जुन उवाच |
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च |
एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव || 1||*
arjuna uvācha
prakṛitiṁ puruṣhaṁ chaiva kṣhetraṁ kṣhetra-jñam eva cha
etad veditum ichchhāmi jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ cha keśhava
arjunaḥ uvācha—Arjun said; prakṛitim—material nature; puruṣham—the enjoyer; cha—and; eva—indeed; kṣhetram—the field of activities; kṣhetra-jñam—the knower of the field; eva—even; cha—also; etat—this; veditum—to know; ichchhāmi—I wish; jñānam—knowledge; jñeyam—the goal of knowledge; cha—and; keśhava—Krishna, the killer of the demon named Keshi
Translation:
Arjuna said: Prakriti and Purusha, the Field and the Knower of the Field, knowledge and that which is to be known— all this, Ο Keśava, I desire to learn.
Commentary:
Arjuna now questions the Lord about the attributeless Brahma. In the Gita, the first six chapters (1-6) are known as ‘Karmashtakam‘ dealing with karma yoga; the second six chapters (7-12) are known as ‘Bhaktishtakam‘ dealing with ‘Bhakti‘, and the last six chapters (13-18) are known as ‘Jnanashatakam‘ dealing with ‘Jnana‘. So in this Discourse, the subject of knowledge is taken up for detailed investigation. For the aspirant in the ‘Jnanamarga’, this Discourse is of great importance.
Question: What is Arjuna’s question?
Answer: He desires to know ‘Prakriti’ and ‘Purusha’, ‘Kshetra’ and ‘Kshetrajna’, ‘Jnana’ and ‘Jneya’.
* In some editions of the Bhagavad Gita, this verse has been omitted, and the next verse figures as the first verse of the thirteenth chapter.