ॐ श्री गुरुभ्यो नम:
इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते । एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः ॥ १३- १ ॥
क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत । क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ॥ १३- २ ॥
These are reflections on
BG 13.2 based on an explanation given by Swami Parmarthananda on Adi
Shankaracharya's commentary. This note is not to give the meaning of the verses or a
commentary on the verses, but a reflection on some of
the principles on which Advaita Vedanta is based. Knowledge of these principles will help in understand Vedantic texts studied under an Acharya.
One principle is - Any experienced object is different
from the experiencer subject. In
other words, I am not what I see. घटदृष्टा घटाद् भिन्न: l I see the keyboard - I am not this keyboard. The scriptures go on to explain what comes
under "Seen" and
"Experienced" and excludes the world outside. Then
our bodies are excluded. We intimately "see" it and experience it. The Veda then goes on to exclude the mind which is the
most intimate object. I definitely experience the mind, its thoughts and emotions. Thus, the Veda makes us arrive at the Sakshi - Witness Consciousness Principle which is called Kshetrajna in the thirteenth Chapter of the BG.
A second principle is – Experienced attributes
belong only to experienced objects, never to the experiencer subject. For example, if you experience obesity in a person, the obesity belongs to the person in front! The Shruti goes on to say that when you experience sorrow, fear, raga. dvesha, anger, frustration etc. may you note that you are not sorrowful, angry, fearful etc. and that these belong to the object - mind (which is not you as per the above first rule!).
The next two points are not separate principles but based on the second principle. However, these are being noted as 3 and 4. These should be read together and the examples noted.
The third point to note: An attribute can never be separated from a substance. For example, Tallness cant be separated from Man - the tall man. This means, attributes can never exist separately. This is taken for granted, but is very very useful to note as one's study of the texts goes on. If you could take out obesity from a person, there would be no need to exercise :) . Therefore tallness attribute, gold color (of gold), cant exist without the substance - man, gold etc.. Similarly, sorrow, happiness belong to the mind (cant exist without the substance - mind)
Fourth: Since substance and attribute cant be separated, the experience of the attribute will always include the experience of the substance also. For example if you see gold colour, you are always experiencing the colour with the substance gold. The the Shruti asks - if you experience sorrow, fear, depression, happiness, don't these belong to an experienced object.?? Can they below to you the experiencer. NO!! The reason is given in the second, third and fourth points. If you talk of any attribute or quality means firstly , it is a known quality, emotion, attribute - because you are talking about it. Next, it must belong to a known object because it cant exist independently. So when you talk of feeling fearful, anxious, sad, happy, you are experiencing attributes of the mind - the object whose attributes these are. The Shruti will arrive at the fact - You are ever free. You are ever free. You are not this mind, body which go through all these changes.
Understanding these principles will help one study Vedantic texts.
Om Tat Sat
