Verses 13.4–13.7🔗

Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to listen carefully to His explanation of what constitutes kṣetra—body-mind, and its activities, its changes, and how they are produced. These truths have been explained by many Ṛṣis, sages, from time to time. The Vedic scriptures, the Brahma Sūtras for example, express these truths with clarity, using sharp reasoning. Thousands of years of research done by millions of inner scientists, Ṛṣis, in millions of inner science laboratories have led to the same truth: The true nature of man is pure consciousness, kṣetrajña, and man is the knower or witness of the field, kṣetra, the body-mind. Throughout this chapter, Kṛṣṇa cautions Arjuna not to confuse the body with the knower of the body and not to confuse the mind with the knower of the mind.

The whole problem arises when we mix the knower of the field with the field itself. KṣetraKṣetrajñaVibhāgaYogaḥ TheFieldAndTheKnowerOftheField 943 We have forgotten that we have taken this body and mind for a purpose and that is to live our desires, saṁskāras. We have forgotten that we have only rented this body-mind costume for this birth and we gradually associate ourselves with it! After a while, this costume becomes more important and dear to us than anything else. Once the costume begins to wear out, we start to worry. This is what happens when we wrongly associate ourselves with the body and mind, instead of associating with the consciousness that runs it.

We confuse kṣetrajña with kṣetra. Naturally, all the problems that arise at the body-mind level start to affect us. The activities that happen to the body-mind appear to be having a direct influence on our lives. In the next few verses, Kṛṣṇa takes Arjuna step-by-step into what these activities are and how they interact with each other. Kṛṣṇa talks about the five great elements, the false ego, the intelligence or the mind that makes decisions and all ten senses. Please understand, He says, ‘ten senses, indriyāṇi daśakaṁ ca’. We think we have five senses. No. We have five karmendriya and five jñānendriya. Karmendriya are the senses or organs responsible for actions such as talking, walking etc and they are the mouth, hands and feet, organs of excretion and reproduction.

Jñānendriya are our five senses that receive knowledge such as smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing and they are the nose, tongue, eyes, skin and ear. So, all the ten senses, plus attachment, aversion, joy, sorrow, the body, mutual attraction and the consciousness contribute to the field of activities. Actually the word ‘consciousness’ cannot be used. When our consciousness becomes rigid, it becomes conscience. There’s a difference between conscience and consciousness. For example, we do something based upon what we think is right or wrong according to our conscience. If we give these same teachings to the next generation, it will not work because something else may be right or wrong for them.

When we force them to follow the same thing that we did, we are giving it as just a morality, as just a conscience. We are giving them a law without the spirit. On the other hand, when we give our next generation an understanding about life, we give them consciousness. Conscience Is Suffering Understand, a person with only conscience always suffers. He can never be happy, whether he enjoys or renounces. If he enjoys, he suffers from guilt. If he renounces, he feels the lack of it. He suffers either way. Never give conscience to the next generation. Always give them an understanding about life, what I call consciousness.

Let them experience and explore. I do not believe in morality. I believe in conscious experience. I do not believe in conscientiousness. I believe in consciousness. Conscience is given to us by society. Consciousness is given to us by God. Conscience is social conditioning. Consciousness is our very nature. Conscience naturally makes our whole life into a ritual. We should know why we are doing and what we are doing before doing anything. Only then will we do it intensely with integrity and authenticity. If we do not know the context and logic behind what we are doing, we will neither integrate ourselves completely into doing it nor take the responsibility to authentically dedicate ourselves to it.

Kṛṣṇa says that the rigid sense of conscience, all the rules that form the kṣetra, are also the field. They are matter. They are not energy. They are not your being. They are not you. Whatever is mentioned here is not you. Listen! We should understand we are liberated the moment we know what we are not. We are liberated even if we live with what is not us. Even if we live with our body-mind, if we know that we are not the body and the mind, then we are not their slaves! Please understand that the word ‘slavery’ can be used as long as something goes against your will.

With awareness and completion, even if you live with the body-mind, you are not their slave. Nothing can enslave us once we understand and cognize that we KṣetraKṣetrajñaVibhāgaYogaḥ TheFieldAndTheKnowerOftheField 945 are not body and mind. We can never become a slave to anything. Even slavery cannot enslave us. Slavery can enslave us as long as we are not ready to cooperate with slavery. This is a subtle point. So, please listen! When we cognize that we are beyond body and mind, we will feel no need to resist when somebody tries to enslave us. We know that we can never be slaves. Only that which goes against our will can enslave us.

Here we are in a totally different space, a totally different consciousness, the space of completion and nothing can go against our will. And we will never have a will that would make us feel like a slave. We will be flowing with the river, flowing with the current. We will disappear into the Divine. So slavery cannot happen to us. Our consciousness is beyond any form of slavery. That is why Kṛṣṇa teaches the secret of understanding the bodymind and consciousness, kṣetra and kṣetrajña. In ancient times, man was only subjected to physical slavery. In the present day, man is subjected to psychological slavery. Understand, we are the psychological slaves of countless things.

When some product is advertised on television, straightaway it sits in our head. Within a few days, we somehow get money and buy that product. We live in a world of psychological slavery. Once we understand that we are not the body-mind, that we are beyond it, we will be totally free from physical and psychological slavery. See, it is like this. When we badly want a particular object or event to happen, our happiness is in the hands of that object or event. That external object or event has the power to control our happiness. We feel depressed when things turn out other than the way we desired. We feel the world is unfair.

Many people ask me, ‘Why has God been so unfair to me? Why is it that only I face these difficulties?’ Please understand, the moment you place your happiness in the hands of something or someone, you have become their slave. They can exploit you. One more thing is that even the thought of wanting freedom can exploit us if we allow it. Many times we chase freedom in the name of spiritual seeking. Freedom happens only when we realize that there is no need to chase. We must drop the idea of wanting freedom and just trust the freedom. We will then experience it. Otherwise, craving for freedom can enslave us instead of enriching us.

We realize the futility of this struggle and experience freedom only when we become aware that we are already free. The minute we stop resisting whatever we have, we start flowing. We stop giving someone or something the power to control our happiness. Nothing will enslave us. Everything will enrich us. We will experience the consciousness of completion and freedom. Inner Science Technology