A core teaching · expansive in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Knowing the field is incomplete without knowing the knower.”
Know Me as the knower in all fields, Arjuna. In my view, true knowledge is knowing the field and the knower of the field.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyknower of the field · and · also · Me · know · in all fields · Arjuna · of field and knower of the field · knowledge · which · that · knowledge · considered · My
Know Krishna as the knower present in every field. Real knowledge is understanding both the field and the one who knows it.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga" (Field and Knower of the Field).
Verse 3 sits in Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita — Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga, "Field and Knower of the Field". The chapter has 35 verses in total.
You stare at your reflection after a brutal argument and think, 'I am this mess.' The verse interrupts that collapse: what changes is the field; awareness is deeper than the damage.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts attention from identifying with changing conditions to recognizing the witnessing presence behind them.
What this verse means
Know Krishna as the knower present in every field. Real knowledge is understanding both the field and the one who knows it.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Arjuna is asking what is real beneath body, mind, and change. Krishna answers that the body is the field, and the knower within every field is also his own presence. That distinction becomes the heart of this teaching.
Why this verse still matters
You stare at your reflection after a brutal argument and think, 'I am this mess.' The verse interrupts that collapse: what changes is the field; awareness is deeper than the damage.
“You are not trapped inside the changing field; awareness itself is the deeper reality.”
Explore related themes: kshetrajna (20 verses), kshetra (14 verses)