- īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
- sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
- anādir ādir govindaḥ
- sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam
- (Bs. 5.1)
These are the Vedic statement. And our process of knowledge, Veda . . . Veda means knowledge. Vetti veda vido jñāne. Supreme knowledge, perfect knowledge, that is Veda.
So Kṛṣṇa is the supreme person. He is the speaker of Vedas. The subject matter of Vedas is to know Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ (BG 15.15). If you are a student of Vedas, then you must have clear conception of God. That is real knowledge—no vague idea, but clear conception. That is knowledge, Vedic knowledge, ultimate . . . therefore the Vedānta philosophy. Veda means knowledge, and anta means the ultimate. Everything has got ultimate. So Vedānta means the ultimate knowledge of Vedas. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā. You will find in the Fifteenth Chapter, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam vedānta-vid vedānta-kṛd ca aham. (break) So He is the compiler of Vedānta philosophy, and He is the knower of Vedānta philosophy. Therefore Arjuna is asking from Kṛṣṇa because He is the ultimate knowle . . . and ultimate, supreme person means Bhagavān. Bhaga means opulence, and vān means one who possesses. The word Sanskrit, vat, it is added when there is the question of possessing. Asty arthe vat and mat pratyaya. This is Sanskrit grammar. So bhagavat. Bhaga means opulence. Opulence means six kinds of opulences, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa: all wealth, all fame, all strength, all beauty, all knowledge, all renunciation. These are the opulences. We can have some money. You have some money, I have got some money, but none of us can claim that, "I have got all the monies." That is not possible. That is claimed by Bhagavān. I have got some strength, you have got some strength, but nobody of us can claim that, "I have got all the strength." So one who possesses all the wealth, all the strength, all the fame, all beauty, all knowledge, all renunciation, He is called Bhagavān. The meaning of bhagavān is this, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇam. Therefore Vyāsadeva says, bhagavān uvāca. He is not ordinary person who is speaking. Who is full with all knowledge, because that is the qualification of Bhagavān. He is competent with all knowledge. So bhagavān uvāca.
So what does He, Bhagavān, says? Idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram ity abhidhīyate (BG 13.2): "My dear Kaunteya, Arjuna . . ." Arjuna's another name is Kaunteya because he is the son of Kuntī. His mother's name is Kuntī; therefore he is addressed as Kaunteya. And Kuntī has got relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Kuntī is the sister of Kṛṣṇa's father, Vasudeva. Therefore out of affection for His aunt, He is addressing Arjuna as the son of His aunt Kuntī, Kaunteya. Idaṁ śarīraṁ kaunteya kṣetram (BG 13.2), the field of activity, ity abhidhīyate. His two answers. Out of the six question—kṣetra, kṣetra-jña, prakṛti, puruṣa, jñānam, jñeyam—He is answering the first two, pair. What is kṣetra? So Kṛṣṇa said: "This body is the kṣetra." Kṣetra means this body. And kṣetra-jña . . . etad yo vetti: "This body, one who knows this body," etad yo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ kṣetra-jñaḥ, "he is called kṣetra-jña." Just like I know my body. The pains and pleasure of my body, the necessities of my body, how I am situated in this body—I know. You also know, you, about your body. And my . . . about my body you do not know what pains and pleasure I am feeling; what pains and pleasure you are feeling, I do not know. But I know the pains and pleasure of my body; you know the pains and pleasure of your body. Therefore, in relationship with your body, you are kṣetra-jña, and in relationship with my body I am kṣetra-jña. My body is kṣetra, the field of activities, and your body is the field of activities.
So this is clear conception of kṣetra and kṣetra-jña. The body is called kṣetra, and the knower of the body . . . if we simply study our body, if we simply take this question little seriously, "Whether I am this body or I am different from my body?" You study each and every part of your body. You study your finger. You will know or I will know, "It is my finger." I do not say: "It is I finger"; "It is my finger." Therefore I am different from my body. Just like I say: "This is my shoe." So my . . . I am not the shoe. So similarly, you study every part of your body, you know that it is your body. You are not this body. This is study. This is meditation. First of all study your body, whether you are body or you are different body. That is actually . . .
The other day I was speaking that a man's father has died, and he is crying, "My father has gone away." So my father . . . your father is lying on the bed. The father which you have seen so long, lifelong, the body, that is on the bed. Why you are crying your father is gone? That means he has never seen his father, neither the father has seen the son. Everyone sees this body, but not the owner of the body. That is the defect of modern education, that everyone by contemplation can understand that, "This finger is my finger, not 'I' finger." Still, he cannot understand that he is different from this body. That is to be understood. That is real knowledge, kṣetra-kṣetra-jñayor jñānam.