Sanskrit
प्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव क्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञमेव च । एतद्वेदितुमिच्छामि ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव ॥
prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva kṣetraṃ kṣetrajñam eva ca etad veditum icchāmi jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ ca keśava
Translation
Matter and Spirit, even the Field and the Knower of the Field, wisdom and that which ought to be known, these I fain would learn, O Keshava.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna’s question sets up the chapter’s entire vocabulary in a single line: prakriti (nature/matter), purusha (spirit/self), kshetra (the field), and kshetrajna (the knower of the field), plus a request for both jnana (wisdom) and jneya (its object). The four terms arrive as two pairs that turn out to name the same distinction from two angles — kshetra/kshetrajna is the epistemic pairing (what’s known vs. who knows), prakriti/purusha is the metaphysical pairing (what acts vs. what witnesses) — and verses 2-3 start collapsing them into one framework almost immediately. The four terms are two pairs naming one distinction from two angles: kṣetra/kṣetrajña is epistemic (what is known vs. who knows); prakṛti/puruṣa is metaphysical (what acts vs. what witnesses). BG 13.2–BG 13.3 start collapsing them at once.
Study deeper
Word by word
- prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caivaप्रकृतिं पुरुषं चैव
- nature and spirit (prakṛtim + puruṣam + ca + eva)
- kṣetraṃ kṣetrajñam eva caक्षेत्रं क्षेत्रज्ञं एव च
- the field and the knower of the field (kṣetram + kṣetrajñam + eva + ca)
- etad veditum icchāmiएतद् वेदितुं इच्छामि
- this I wish to know (etat + veditum + icchāmi)
- jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ ca keśavaज्ञानं ज्ञेयं च केशव
- knowledge and its object, O Keśava (jñānam + jñeyam + ca + keśava)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Chapter 12 closed on the qualities of the devotee — a chapter almost entirely about feeling and orientation. Arjuna opens chapter 13 with the driest possible question: four technical terms requested in a single breath, with no emotional framing at all. The Gita doesn’t smooth that transition; it lets devotion and analysis sit side by side as two disciplines a single seeker moves between, without either one needing to explain or soften the abruptness of the shift.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you shift from an emotionally settled state into pure analysis, or the reverse, don't feel obligated to soften the transition or explain why your mode changed — treat feeling and analysis as two disciplines you're allowed to move between, not two states that owe each other continuity.
Professional
- If a standup following a difficult team conversation turns straight into a dry architecture review, don't apologize for the whiplash — let the empathetic and the analytical modes of leadership stand side by side unexplained, since both are legitimate work and neither needs to justify the other.
Family & Social
- After a warm, emotional conversation with family, it's fine to switch abruptly into practical planning — logistics, finances — without smoothing the transition; treat care and practicality as two separate registers you're allowed to inhabit back to back.
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