Arjuna said: O Keshava, I wish to know about nature and the person, the field and the knower of the field, knowledge and that which ought to be known.

The Blessed Lord said: This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field, and one who knows it is called the knower of the field by those who know.

Know Me also as the Knower of all fields, O Bharata. Knowledge of the field and its knower—that I consider to be true knowledge.

What the field is, what it is like, what its modifications are, whence it comes, who the knower is, and what his powers are—hear this from Me briefly.

This has been sung by the sages in many ways, in various Vedic hymns, and also in the well-reasoned and conclusive words of the Brahma-sūtras.

The great elements, ego, intellect, the unmanifest, the ten senses, the mind, and the five sense objects—

Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate body, consciousness, and fortitude—this is the field with its modifications briefly described.

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-violence, tolerance, simplicity, service to the teacher, cleanliness, steadfastness, and self-control—

Dispassion toward sense objects, absence of ego, and perception of the evil in birth, death, old age, disease, and suffering—

Non-attachment, non-identification with son, wife, home, and the like, and constant even-mindedness in pleasant and unpleasant events—

Unwavering devotion to Me through exclusive yoga, preference for solitary places, and distaste for the company of worldly people—

Constant pursuit of self-knowledge, perception of the goal of true knowledge—this is declared to be knowledge, and what is contrary to this is ignorance.

I shall now declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality—the beginningless Supreme Brahman, which is said to be neither existent nor non-existent.

With hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads, and faces everywhere, with ears everywhere, It exists encompassing all in the world.

Appearing to have the qualities of all the senses, yet devoid of all senses; unattached yet sustaining all; free from the gunas yet experiencing them.

Existing outside and inside all beings, moving and non-moving; imperceptible due to its subtlety; far away yet very near.

Undivided, yet appearing divided among beings; to be known as the sustainer of beings, and also their devourer and creator.

It is the light of all lights, said to be beyond darkness. It is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge, seated in the hearts of all.

Thus the field, knowledge, and the object of knowledge have been briefly described. My devotee, understanding this, becomes qualified for My nature.

Know that both nature and the person are beginningless; and know that the modifications and the qualities arise from nature.

In the production of the body and senses, nature is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, the person is said to be the cause.

The person, seated in nature, experiences the qualities born of nature. Attachment to these qualities is the cause of birth in good and evil wombs.

The supreme Person in this body is also called the witness, the permitter, the supporter, the experiencer, the great Lord, and the Supreme Self.

One who thus knows the person and nature along with the qualities, regardless of present condition, is not born again.

Some perceive the Self in the self through meditation, others through the yoga of knowledge, and still others through the yoga of action.

Others, not knowing these paths, worship upon hearing from others. They too cross beyond death, devoted to what they have heard.

Whatever being is born, whether stationary or moving, know that it arises from the union of the field and the knower of the field, O best of the Bharatas.

One who sees the Supreme Lord dwelling equally in all beings, the imperishable within the perishable, truly sees.

Seeing the Lord equally present everywhere, one does not destroy the Self by the self, and thus attains the supreme goal.

One who sees that all actions are performed by nature alone, and that the Self is not the doer, truly sees.

When one perceives the diversity of beings as rooted in one source, and their expansion from that alone, then one attains Brahman.

Being beginningless and beyond the qualities, the Supreme Self is imperishable. Though dwelling in the body, O son of Kunti, It neither acts nor is tainted.

As the all-pervading ether is not tainted because of its subtlety, so the Self, situated everywhere in the body, is not tainted.

As the one sun illuminates this entire world, so the Lord of the field illuminates the entire field, O Bharata.

Those who with the eye of knowledge perceive the distinction between the field and its knower, and the liberation of beings from nature, attain the Supreme.