A core teaching · reflective in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Your reactions belong to the field, not to the knower.”
Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the body, consciousness, and steadiness: this field, together with its changes, is briefly described.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallydesire · aversion · pleasure · pain · the body as a composite · consciousness · steadiness · this · field · briefly · with changes · is described
The field includes the body, feelings, impulses, and the mind's steadiness. All of these are part of what changes, not the knower behind them.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga" (Field and Knower of the Field).
Verse 7 sits in Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita — Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga, "Field and Knower of the Field". The chapter has 35 verses in total.
You feel a surge of attraction, then irritation, then numbness, and call it your identity. This verse asks you to see those shifts as passing states, not your core.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts attention from identifying with reactions to observing them as changing contents of the field.
What this verse means
The field includes the body, feelings, impulses, and the mind's steadiness. All of these are part of what changes, not the knower behind them.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is frozen, and Krishna begins separating what changes from what truly knows. After naming the field's basic parts, Krishna now includes desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, and steadiness as part of the same changing nature.
Why this verse still matters
You feel a surge of attraction, then irritation, then numbness, and call it your identity. This verse asks you to see those shifts as passing states, not your core.
“You can stop confusing your moods and reactions with who you are.”
Explore related themes: kshetrajna (20 verses), kshetra (14 verses)