Verse 13.5-6

Verse 13.5: “The Gross Elements, the ‘I’-notion, and the Intellection, as also the Unmanifest; the Sense-Centres ten, plus the one (Mind), and the fire Objects of Sense–(–perception):

Verse 13.6: “Desire, Aversion; Pleasure, Pain; the (harmonious Collocation (of all the faculties); Sentiency, and (Self-) Sustenance: all this is the Field summarily enumerated, together with its changing forms. (72)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

First the five great elements: then ‘I’ notion—(egoism), the intellection, and the unmanifest (Maya or illusion); then the ten organs: then the mind, the ten objects (of the senses); then the group of aversion, pleasure and pains and also desires: (and lastly) sentiency and sustenance. These are all the constituents of the field and have been mentioned to you. Now I tell you one by one, what are the great elements, what the objects are, and how they are.

The great elements mentioned are the Earth, the Water, the Fire, the Wind and the Sky. Just as the dream is hidden in the awakened state, or just as the moon is invisible on Amavasya—the last day of the lunar month) or just as youth remains hidden in a child of tender age or just as the fragrance remains latent while the flower is yet in an unblown condition, or just as the fire is latent in the wood; Oh Kiriti, in that way, the ‘I’-notion is latent in the interior (stomach) of ‘Prakriti’ (Nature). Just as fever only waits for some irregularity (kupathya) to occur and as soon as it takes place, it makes itself felt, in the same way, the body is formed as soon as the five elements combine, and then what makes the body active everywhere is the ‘I’-notion (or egoism). The amazing feature of this ‘I’-notion is that it does not affect so much the ignorant, but embracing firmly the neck of the ‘knowing person’, “throws” him in the whirlpool of many difficulties.

Now as regards the intellection, hear its symptoms”, said the King of the Yadavas (Lord Krishna). When Cupid gets strong, that which with the aid of the functions of other senses conquers the Bastilles of desires, that which enables the living beings to discriminate between good and bad, and when enjoyments involving pleasure and pain are offered to them; that which distinguishes pleasure from pain, piety (puṇya) from sin, the clean from the filthy; through which the living beings come to know what is inferior and superior, big and small, and which can test the characteristics of different objects; that which is the origin of the power of knowledge, which enhances the quality of being pious, and which resides on the borderline of individual soul and Atman (pure spirit) know you Arjuna-all these indicate the intellection; and now do hear how to know the unmanifest.

That which the Samkhyas designate as the ‘Prakriti’, the origin of the world-you take that Prakriti as the Maya (illusion) or the Unmanifest here. You were made to hear formerly (in Chapter VII) about the Samkhya’s and the yoga’s opinion of Prakriti, and in the same place you were told in detail about the two types of it.

The second (the higher type) variety of Prakriti mentioned there is ‘Jivadasha’. That same (Jiva-dasha), Oh the best among the heroes, is the Unmanifest here, in other words. Just as the stars disappear with the close of the night, or just as the activity of the people comes to an end at sunset, or just as at the fall of the body, the physical form with its desires and feelings is merged into the totality of past actions, or just as the tree is entirely contained in its seed-form, or just as the entire (piece of) cloth is contained in the yam-form, so the sphere where the great elements, together with all created things sink after abandoning their gross form and assuming the subtle one—that same (sphere) should be known by the designation ‘unmanifest’. Now hear the distinction between the different organs.

Eyes, ears, skin, tongue and nose-these are the sense organs. It is through these entrances that the intellection thinks of pleasure and pain when the five elements combine together. In the same way tongue, hands, feet, anus and the sexual organs, these are five more organs and these are what are called the action organs and you hear about them”, said the Lord of Kaivalya (perfect isolation). The power of action which is the wife of Prana (the principal life-wind) constantly goes out and comes in through these entrances of action organs. I have described to you the ten organs; you now do hear the attributes of the mind. It is located at the junction of the organs and intellection and plays its part by riding on the shoulders of the ‘Rajas’ ([rajasa?]) quality. Mind is constituted by the fickle upsurge of the wind (vānyāvīpharārī) just like the apparent bluish tinge of the sky or like the unreal waves of the mirage. With the mingling together of the semen and ovum (blood), is formed the body-frame, inclusive of the five elements, and one life-wind principle is metamorphosed into ten kinds. These ten kinds of lifewinds get steady in their respective places in the body according to their nature. Owing to the perpetual existence of fickleness in these places, there arises the strength of the ‘Rajas’ quality.

Outside the intellection, this fickleness plays a powerfull part closely clinging to egoism. This fickleness bears the pseudonym of mind, but it is in fact the fancy incarnate that is responsible for the embodiment of the soul. That which is the source of power of action and also the tower of strength to desires and which always fights with the egoism: that which increases desires and strengthens hope and which reinforces fear: that from which ‘duality’ springs up and which fattens nescience and which pushes the senses into the objects of senses: that which forms the world with the help of fancy and very soon dismantles it with the help of antifancy and erects as well as pulls down piles of castles in the air: that which is the very storehouse of delusion and the very essence of the element-wind, and which shuts up the doors of the intellection: (i.e. imprisons the reasoning faculty) that Oh Kiriti, is the mind, there being no doubt about it. Now hear about the objects (of senses) with their distinctive features.

The knowledge of touch, speech, sight, taste and smell are the objects of the organs of senses. The knowledge wanders out through these five doors, just as the animals get confounded and roam at random after green grass. Then (the utterance of) vowels and consonants etc. as also the acceptance or rejection (of things) and movement and discharge of excrement and urine—these are the five objects of the organs of action and through these, actions issue forth. These are the ten objects in the body and now I shall describe the nature of desires.

The recollection of past enjoyments or hearing of past events, creates a thrill in the functions and these get awakened when the organs and their objects meet and are strengthened with the support of the willing faculty. At the awakening of the functions (dispositions), the mind runs helter-skelter, the organs intrude upon forbidden ground to taste sinful pleasure. On account of its great liking for the functions, the intellection gets deluded and that which feels love for these objects is the desire. If the organs fail to secure their respective objects, immediately after the generation of desire, the feeling that is created is hatred.

Now see the symptoms of what is called pleasure. It is that which makes life forget everything (else) when it is attained. It administers its oath to the body, tongue, and mind, causing the body even to forget itself. With its advent, it makes the cripple to be the very life (i.e. full of vitality) and the righteous, more than double the quantity of their happiness. It even makes all functions of the senses to lie dormant (fast asleep) in the solitude of heart. In short, the state of feeling that arises when the individual soul is in intimate association with the Atman is happiness. And that state of feeling which is created as a result of failure to secure the happiness mentioned above is pain. Ordinarily, happiness is a normal thing, but it is spoilt on account of attachment to desires. The pain and pleasure thus go respectively with the attachment to and the abandoning of desires.

That supreme existence in the body, which standing quite aloof and all-knowing (sākṣībhūta), is named sentiency. It pervades the body cap-a-pie and is ever awake and remains unaltered through the three stages (avasthātrayī). It keeps the mind and the intellect fresh and keeps in a lovely condition the garden of Prakriti as in Spring. A portion of it which verily pervades alike both the inanimate and the animate creation (jaḍājaḍī) is called sentiency. The King may not be acquainted with his army, yet his word of command brings about the destruction of the enemy: or the sea gets in full tide at the appearance of the (full) moon: or proximity of the magnet imparts motion to iron: or the sunshine induces people to go about their business: or the female tortoise feeds and brings up her young one merely by looking at it without putting into its mouth the nipple of her breast. In that way, the association of Atman with the body creates life in inanimate things.

And this is what is called sentiency, Oh Arjuna. Now hear the exposition and analysis of self-sustenance. The elements are opposed to each other by nature. Does not water destroy the earth? The fire dries up the water, the wind conquers the fire while the sky devours the wind. The sky (ether or space) does not combine with any other substance but pervades all; yet it is ever free (from all). In this way although opposed to one another, they (elements) contrive to remain in unison in the body. Thus leaving all sense of duality, they dwell together and become feeders of each other by their natural qualities. That, which brings about a friendship amongst opposing elements, is called Dhriti (dhṛtī—sustenance).

The coming together of thirty-six principles, together with life is collocation, Oh Pandava. In this way you are told distinctly of the thirty-six components which taken together are called what is known as the ‘field’. Just as the assemblage of the component parts of a chariot, when complete, can be called a chariot, Oh Pandava, or the lower and upper limbs—from the feet unto the very head—are designated as ‘body’, or the chariots, horses, elephants, infantry, when they form an assemblage, can derive the name ‘the army’, or a combination of letters can be called a sentence; or all the clouds taken together get the name (cloudy) ‘sky’: or all the visible living beings can be called the world: or oil, wick and fire, coming in one place, get the name ‘lamp’ in the world. In this way the thirty-six principles, when they are fused together, go by the name of ‘field’.

The crop of evil or good (pāpapuṇya) ripens there (in the field) according to the nature of the living beings, and I therefore call it a ‘field’ in wonderment. Similarly some name this field as ‘body’. There are thus many names to this. In fact excepting the Supreme Spirit, everything in the cosmos beginning from Brahma and ending with stocks and stones, whatever is born and meets death, constitutes a field. Coming to birth either in Genus (yogī) of Gods or men or the serpents takes place according to the combined qualities and actions (in the past). Elaborate discussion about these qualities will be made later on.

Oh Arjuna, we would now show you the aspects of what is called knowledge. So far I have explained (to you) in detail the field with its attributes and now hear about grand and exalted knowledge. For the sake of this knowledge, the Yogins by-pass the Heavens and mount over the celestial sky. They disregard ṛddhisiddhi (the Goddesses of growth and success) and consider as beneath their notice the hardest penance such as the ‘Yoga’. They cross over the difficult fortress of austerities as also cast away (ovālitī) crores of sacrifices and root out the plant of action. Some follow the devotional path, while some live in a naked state and some follow the secret path towards ‘Sushumna’ (a particular artery of the human body). In short the great sages, with the intense desire of securing knowledge, rummage through leaf after leaf of the tree in the form of the Vedas. They abandon the stores of thousand lives with the intensive idea that the preceptor’s grace would secure all for them.

With the advent of knowledge ignorance is destroyed and a complete identity is established between the soul and Atman. It closes the doors of the senses, (i.e. prevents their hankering after objects), breaks the legs of action and dispels the helplessness of the mind. Similarly the power of knowledge renders scarce the feeling of duality and creates in abundance evenness of outlook. It removes all trace of conceit, devours primeval illusion and banishes from phraseology words like ‘mine’ or ‘of others’. It snaps the net of worldly affairs, washes out the filth of fancy and embraces the all-pervading supreme spirit. Its attainment cripples the life-wind (which represents the Willing faculty), and upon whose existence depend the affairs of the world. The intellect gets pure by its splendour and the life rolls in great joy. In this way, knowledge, the sole reservoir of sanctity, renders the mind clean, which is soiled by the objects (of senses).

Pure Atman has apparently contracted the disease of consumption; as a result it imputes to itself the limited existence of the individual soul. It finds complete cure in the association of this knowledge. The knowledge is an unteachable thing; yet I ask you to fix your mind on it. Knowledge is not a thing which can be seen with (physical) eyes. Yet when it makes its entry into the body its symptoms are visible through the actions of the organs

Just as the getting into blossom of trees indicates the advent of Spring (season) in that way the actions of the organs bear evidence of knowledge: or just as when the roots under the soil of the twigs of all branches, or just as the softness of the blossom makes known also the softness of the soil, or just as the magnanimity and nobility of conduct is an index to good breeding, or just as the manner of reception (offered to a guest) indicates affection (in one’s heart), or just as on meeting a person if feelings of welcome and cordiality express themselves automatically, and one’s mind is also simultaneously satisfied, one knows he has met a pious person, or just as the production of camphor in the ‘Kardali’ (plantain) plant makes itself felt by its fragrance, or just as the placing of a lamp inside a glass pot makes it reflect its light around, in that way, the attributes by which the knowledge inside the heart expresses itself outside, I shall now tell you and hear attentively.