Verse 13.34

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 13.34:

यथा प्रकाशयत्य् एकः कृत्स्नं लोकम् इमं रविः ।
क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३४ ॥

yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ kṛtsnaṃ lokam imaṃ raviḥ |
kṣetraṃ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṃ prakāśayati bhārata || 34 ||

yathā–just as; prakāśayati–illuminates; ekaḥ–the one; kṛtsnam–entire; lokam–universe; imam–this; raviḥ–sun; kṣetram–field (body); kṣetrī–the Supersoul within the field (of the body); tathā–so; kṛtsnam–the entire; prakāśayati–illuminates; bhārata–O scion of Bharata.

O Bhārata, just as one sun illuminates the whole universe, in the same way, the Supersoul illuminates the entire body with consciousness.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

How does an illuminating object remain unaffected by the qualities of the object it illuminates? To explain this with an example, Śrī Bhagavān speaks this verse beginning with the word yathā.

The sun is the illuminator, yet it is not affected by the qualities of the objects it illuminates. Similarly, kṣetrī (Paramātmā) does not become affected by the qualities of kṣetra (the body).

It is also said in Kaṭha Upaniṣad (2.2.11):

sūryo yathā sarva-lokasya cakṣur na lipyate cakṣuṣair bāhya-doṣaiḥ
ekas tathā sarva-bhūtāntarātmā na lipyate loka-duḥkhena bāhyaḥ

The sun, like the eye of all beings, does not become affected by the defects in another’s eye or the defects in that which is perceived by the eye. In the same way, the one Paramātmā is not subject to the happiness or misery of anybody, even though He is situated in all beings.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Just as the one sun illuminates the whole universe, even though it is situated in the one place, in the same way, the ātmā, which is situated in one part of the body, illuminates the entire body with consciousness. Brahma-sūtra (2.3.25) also says, “guṇād vā lokavat–although the individual soul is atomic, it pervades the whole body by its quality of consciousness.”

In this verse, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura translates the word kṣetrī as Paramātmā, because Paramātmā is the complete kṣetra-jña and the jīva is the partial kṣetra-jña. The conscious jīva is kṣetra-jña of a particular body, but Parameśvara is the complete kṣetra-jña of all bodies, simultaneously.