Chapter 13 Kshtera-Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga
Adhyaatma jnaana nityatwam tattwa jnaanaartha darshanam;Etajjnaanamiti proktam ajnaanam yadato’nyathaa.
Constancy in Self-knowledge, perception of the end of true knowledge— this is declared to be knowledge, and what is opposed to it is ignorance.
Interpretation
This is the concluding part of the 5 part shloka that talks about the ways and means through which the knowledge of the field can be acquired by an individual. Lord Krishna in this last part focuses on the two most important things that are required to complete a person’s understanding of the field. The first one he talks about is the self-knowledge or the knowledge about one’s soul. The other is the end point of the true knowledge for an individual. Normally each one of us have a perception about where the knowledge ends. The perception of that point is called as the end of true knowledge, which Lord Krishna says is essential to drive away ignorance.
Extending Interpretation to Mankind’s Life!
Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of being here? Am I doing what am supposed to do or have I entangled myself in things that are momentary and those which doesn’t take me to the pursuit of moksha? These are some of the questions that every individual will be faced with and forced to find answer to. Self Knowledge is knowing about this pursuit of an individual to know about himself. Many times we have spoken about this, but as the knowledge of the person keeps increasing he has to ask himself these questions to re-evaluate himself on the true knowledge he is acquiring. It is essential because with more knowledge the reference point of right amount of knowledge alters.
The other part of knowing the field is the balance between what is declared to be knowledge and ignorance. At the time of birth every person is ignorant about practically everything around himself including what is already there in his soul. As he starts acquiring knowledge the ignorance level comes down. So, it is the knowledge that drives away ignorance and how much a person acquires depends on the efforts that he puts into acquiring that knowledge. Thus, when a person uses every minute of his life in understanding thing around him, which we call as knowledge, it drives away the ignorance from him. The point where a person has no ignorance at all is counted as a point where he perfects his understanding of the field, thus becoming the knower of the field.
