तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक् च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत्।स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे श्रृणु ॥
tatkṣetraṃ yacca yādṛk ca yadvikāri yataśca yat|sa ca yo yatprabhāvaśca tatsamāsena me śrṛṇu ||
Hear briefly from Me: what kṣetra is, its properties, its modifications, from what, and who the kṣetrajña is!
Word by word (3)
- tat kṣetraṃ yac ca yādṛk ca yad-vikāri yataś ca yat
- — What that kṣetra is, what it is like, what its modifications are, from what and what effects arise · tat = that (pointing at the kṣetra just defined). kṣetram = the field. yat ca = what it is (interrogative relative). yādṛk ca = what it is like, what its nature is (yādṛk = of what kind, what sort). yad-vikāri = what its modifications are (yad = what; vikāri = modifications, changes; vikāra from vi + √kṛ = to transform; vikāra = that which undergoes transformation; here: the enumeration of kṣetra's modifications will include the 24 tattvas of Sāṃkhya: earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect, ego, 5 sense-objects, 5 sense-organs, 5 action-organs). yataś ca yat = from what and what arises (yataḥ = from what source/origin; ca = and; yat = what result/product; asking about the causal chain: what arises from what in the kṣetra's structure). This half-verse is a philosophical table of contents: it names four aspects of kṣetra that will be answered: identity, nature, modifications, and causality.
- sa ca yo yat-prabhāvaś ca tat samāsena me śṛṇu
- — And who that kṣetrajña is and what his powers are — hear that briefly from Me · sa ca = and he (refers to the kṣetrajña; pointing at the knowing subject). yaḥ = who (relative). yat-prabhāvaś ca = and what his powers/greatness are (yat = what; prabhāva = power, greatness, influence, potency; prabhāva from pra + √bhū = to shine forth greatly; prabhāva = the quality of shining forth = powers/capabilities). tat = all that. samāsena = briefly, in brief (from samāsa = compressing/condensing; samāsena = in a compressed form). me śṛṇu = hear from Me (me = from Me; śṛṇu = imperative of √śru = to hear; 'hear from Me'). The verse is a preview or 'table of contents' for Ch.13's detailed teaching. Krishna is saying: 'Here is what I'm about to cover' — a pedagogically sophisticated device: telling the student what's coming increases comprehension.
- samāsena me śṛṇu
- — hear briefly from Me · Samāsena (briefly) is characteristic of the Gita's teaching style — Krishna repeatedly uses samāsena or kathayiṣyāmi (I will tell) to introduce compressed but deep expositions. The request to 'hear' (śṛṇu) is also significant: the tradition is oral, from teacher to student; the student must LISTEN, not just read. This connects to śraddhā (receptive faith) — one hears with an open mind. The teaching that follows (V5-V18) is not a casual description but the Sāṃkhya-Vedanta cosmology in concentrated form.
V4 is Krishna's 'table of contents' verse — He previews what He's about to explain: (1) what kṣetra (the field) is, (2) what it's like, (3) its modifications, (4) what causes what within it, and (5) who the kṣetrajña is and what His powers are. 'Hear this briefly from Me' — the entire metaphysics of kṣetra and kṣetrajña compressed into the verses that follow.
A modern analogy
Like a professor who opens a lecture by saying: 'Today we'll cover: what the topic is, its characteristics, how it changes, what produces what, and who the agent is.' V4 is that opening frame — pedagogically clear, giving students a map before the territory.
Sit with this: V4 asks about kṣetra's 'modifications' (vikāra). If the body is the field, what are its modifications? Does this include not just physical changes (aging, sickness) but also mental changes (moods, thoughts, memories)? Where do you draw the boundary of 'kṣetra'?
V4's five questions (identity, nature, modifications, causality, and the knower's powers) map onto the five pramāṇas (means of knowledge) of Indian philosophy. They also anticipate the 24 tattvas of Sāṃkhya (V5-V6), the 20 jñāna qualities (V7-V11), and the jñeya-description of Brahman (V12-V18). The verse is structurally important: it tells us that Ch.13 is not speculative but systematic — a complete account of the nature of embodied existence and its transcendence.
Advaita lens
Śankara highlights V4's phrase yad-vikāri (its modifications) as the key Sāṃkhya term: vikāra (transformation, modification) applies ONLY to kṣetra (the field), never to kṣetrajña (the knowing consciousness). Consciousness does not undergo vikāra — it is the unchanging witness of all vikāras. The question 'what are kṣetra's modifications?' will produce the answer: everything you see, think, and feel is a vikāra of kṣetra. Consciousness is not among them.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
And what that Kshetra is, and of what nature, and what its changes; and whence is what; and who He is and what His powers; this hear thou briefly from Me. [1]
What the Kshetra is, what its properties are, what its modifications are, what effects arise from what causes, and also who He is and what His powers are, that hear from Me in brief. [4]
Now will I tell thee of this Kshetra, / What it is, / How it is and what things there be in it — / What Ksheyrajna is, / Whence is he, and what his powers — / Briefly I will tell thee all. [7]
Now hear from me in brief what that Kshetra (is), what (it is) like, what changes (it undergoes), and whence (it comes), and what is he (viz. the Kshetrajña), and what his powers. [9]
What that Kshetra (is), and what (it is) like, and what changes it undergoes, and whence (it comes), what is he (viz., Kshetrajna), and what his powers are, hear from me in brief. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
This has been sung by the rishis in many hymns, distinctly — and in brahma-sūtra passages, with clear reasoning!
Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the body, consciousness, courage — all this with its modifications is the kṣetra!
Constant Self-enquiry + seeing the goal of true knowledge = THIS IS JÑĀNA; all else is ignorance.
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.