यथा प्रकाशयत्य् एकः कृत्स्नं लोकम् इमं रविः । क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥
yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ kṛtsnaṃ lokam imaṃ raviḥ | kṣetraṃ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṃ prakāśayati bhārata ||
As the ONE sun illumines all this world, so the kṣetrajña-Light illumines the entire kṣetra — iti!
Word by word (3)
- yathā ekaḥ raviḥ kṛtsnam lokam imam prakāśayati
- — as the ONE sun (ekaḥ raviḥ) illumines (prakāśayati) this entire world (kṛtsnam lokam imam — kṛtsna = whole, complete)
- kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnam kṣetram prakāśayati
- — so the kṣetrī (knower of the field) illumines the entire kṣetra — field, body, and all experience within it
- bhārata
- — O Bhārata — Arjuna as descendant of Bharata; the addressed student receiving this chapter-closing teaching
Just as one single sun illumines this entire world, so the knower of the field (kṣetrī — Paramātmā) illumines the entire field — all experience, all body, all mind. Thus the teaching of kṣetra and kṣetrajña is complete.
A modern analogy
One bulb lights the whole room — remove it and everything is dark. The kṣetrajña-awareness is the single light behind all perception: body, senses, thought, feeling, all illumined by it. You are not the furniture of the room. You are the light.
This is the CHAPTER FINALE for Ch.13 Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña-Vibhāga Yoga. Three teachings converge in the sun analogy: (1) the kṣetrajña is ONE — ekaḥ raviḥ; (2) it illumines the WHOLE field — kṛtsnam kṣetram; (3) like the sun, it illumines without being modified by what it shines on. This is the practical summary and mnemonic seal of the field-knower teaching.
The raviḥ-dṛṣṭānta (sun analogy) is one of the oldest and most repeated Vedāntic illustrations, appearing in Chāndogya, Muṇḍaka, and Kaṭha Upaniṣads. Śaṅkara: just as the one sun illumines all objects without becoming those objects, so the Paramātmā is the ONE universal consciousness appearing to illumine every body-mind without becoming any of them. The chapter's central error — confusing the illumined (kṣetra) with the illuminer (kṣetrajña) — is dissolved by this final image.
Advaita lens
Ekaḥ raviḥ = the ONE Brahman-consciousness appearing as kṣetrajña in all bodies. Advaita reads this as: there is no multiplicity of knowers — only ONE Ātman-as-Awareness shines through all kṣetra-s simultaneously. The 'sun' is not located in any body; all bodies appear as objects within the 'sun' of pure consciousness. The perceived world is the kṣetra; the Perceiving Awareness is the kṣetrī — and that Awareness is singular, not pluralized by its objects.
Bhakti lens
Bhaktas read kṣetrī as Bhagavān Himself — the antaryāmin, the Inner Light that never sets. The devotee sees Krishna as the sun within the heart-space; their entire being (kṣetra) is lovingly illumined by His presence. Surrender (śaraṇāgati) means removing the obstructions — ego, vikāras, false identification — so that His light illumines every corner of the inner field without shadow.
Karma-Yoga lens
For the karma yogi, the sun analogy teaches the quality of naiṣkarmya in action: the sun shines equally on saint and sinner, battlefield and garden, without preference or reaction. Act as the light acts — illuminate the kṣetra through your karma, without claiming the kṣetra as yours or the actions as yours. The akartā principle is not inaction but rather action as pure illumination — seva (service) as sunlight.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
As the one sun illumines this entire world, so the Lord of the Field illumines the whole Field, O Arjuna. [1]
As the one sun illumines all this world, so does He who abides in the Kshetra illumine the whole Kshetra. [4]
And as the one sun illuminates this whole world, so does the lord of the body illuminate the whole body, O descendant of Bharata! [9]
As the single sun illuminates this entire world, so does the soul of the Field illuminate the whole Field, O Bharata. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for — and call it wisdom.
That which pervades everything cannot be destroyed — nothing and no one has the power to end it.
The soul does not slay, and cannot be slain — both the slayer and the slain have mistaken the soul for the body.
Unborn. Undying. Ancient. Eternal. Not slain when the body is slain — this is what you are.
You've changed your clothes a thousand times — this is all that death is.