Shloka

इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं संघातश्चेतना धृतिः |
एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम् ||१३-७||

Transliteration

icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ saṃghātaścetanā dhṛtiḥ .
etatkṣetraṃ samāsena savikāramudāhṛtam ||13-7||

Translations

Dr.S.Sankaranarayan

13.7. The desire, the hatred. the pleasure, the pain, the aggregate, the sensibility and the feeling of satisfaction (or self-?nd) : This, together with modification, is what is collectively called ’the Field, together with modification'.

Shri Purohit Swami

13.7 Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, sympathy, vitality and the persistent clinging to life, these are in brief the constituents of changing Matter.

Sri Abhinav Gupta

13.6-7 Mahabhutani etc. Iccha etc. The Unmanifest : the [prime] material cause. The organs : together with the mind, they are eleven in number. The object of the snese - organs : the colour etc., that are five in number. Sensibility : the perceiving energy i.e. the Individual Soul. Feeling of satisfaction (or self-?nd) : It is well known that at the last moment, when a given action is [just] begun or accomplished and desire, anger etc. (come up and accomplished) there arises - in the case of everone from Brahma (personal god) down to the worm-a feeling of satisfaction (or self-?nd) as ‘This much is ite sufficient for me; what is the use of another one ? Let me always be in this manner’,-a feeling which upholds one’s life, and is in the form of consolation and which is called by the expression raga in the highly secret ?ndments. (5-6) The Field has been explained as above; so also the Field-sensitizer. Now [what conduces to the true] knowledge is mentioned as-

Sri Ramanuja

13.6- 13.7 The ‘great elements, the Ahankara, the Buddhi and the Avyakta’ are substances that originate the Ksetra. The ‘great elements’ are the earth, water, fire, air and ether. The ‘Ahankara’ here means Bhutadi (primeval element). The ‘Buddhi’ is called Mahat; the ‘Avyakta’ is known as the Prakrti. The ’ten senses and the one’ and the five objects of senses are principles depending on the Ksetra. The ‘five sensorial organs’ are ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose. The five motor organs are speech, hands, feet, and the organs of excretion and reproduction. These are the ten senses. The Manas is the additional ‘one’ moe. The ‘objects of the senses’ are five - sound, touch, form, taste and smell.

Desire, hatred, pleasure and pain, being the transformation of the Ksetra, are said to be the modifications of the Ksetra. Though desire, hatred, pleasure and pain are the alities of the self, yet they originate from the association of the self with the Ksetra. Sri Krsna will state that they are the attributes of the self; ‘In the experience of pleasure and pain, the self is said to be the cause’ (13.20).

The combination of elements serves as the support (Adhrti) of the intelligent self. As such, the word Adhrti means substratum. The combination of material elements has arisen as the substratum for the self to experience pleasure and pain, and for aciring worldly experiences and the final release. The combination of elements is formed by substances commencing from the Prakrti and ending with the earth; it is the basis of senses which are endowed with the modifications of the nature of desire, hatred, pleasure and pain. These form a Sanghata or an association of elements. It serves as the basis of the experience of pleasure and pain by the individual self. This is what is said of the Ksetra. This Ksetra has been explained briefly with its modifications and effects.

Now certain alities, the effects of the Ksetra, worthy of being acired as being the means for securing the knowledge of the self, are enumerated.

Sri Shankaracharya

13.7 Iccha, desire: Having experienced again an object of that kind which had given him the feeling of pleasure earlier, a man wants to have it under the idea that it is a source of pleasure. That is this desire which is an attribute of the internal organ, and is the ‘field’ since it is an object of knowledge. So also dvesah, repulsion: Having experienced again an object of that kind which he had earlier felt as a cause of sorrow, he hates it. That is this repulsion, and it is surely the ‘field’ since it is an object of knowledge. Similarly, sukham, happiness- which is favourable, tranil, having the ality of sattva-is the ‘field’ since it is an object of knowledge. Duhkham, sorrow-which is by nature adverse-, that, too, is the ‘field’ since it is a knowable. Sanghatah is the aggregate, the combination, of body and organs. Cetana, sentience, is a state of the internal organ, manifest in that aggregate like fire in a heated lump of iron, and pervaded by an essence in the form of a semblance of Consciousness of the Self. That too is the ‘field’ because it is an object of knowledge. Dhrtih, fortitude, by which are sustained the body and organs when they get exhausted-that too is the ‘field’ becuase it is an object of knowledge. Desire etc. have been selected as suggestive of all the alities of the internal organ. The Lord concludes what has been said: Etat, this; ksetram, field; savikaram, together with its modifications beginning from mahat (buddhi); has been samasena, briefly; udahrtam, spoken of. That ‘field’ which was referred to as, ‘This body is called the field’ (1), and is constituted by the aggregate of the constituents of the field has been explained in its different forms beginning from the great elements etc. ending with fortitude. The Knower of the field whose alities are going to be described, and by realizing which Knower of the field along with His majesty Immortality follows-of Him, togehter with His attributes, the Lord Himself will narrate in the verse, ‘I shall speak of that which is to be known’ (12). But, for the present, the Lord enjoins the group of disciplines characterized as humility etc. which lead one to the knowledge of That (Knower of the field)-that group of humility etc. which are referred to by the word Knowledge since they lead to Knowledge, and owing to the existence of which one becomes appropriately competent for the realization of that Knowable, and being endued with which a monk is said to be steadfast in Knowledge:

Swami Adidevananda

13.7 Desire, hatred, pleasure and pain and the combination that constitutes the basis of consciousness (or the individual self). Thus this Ksetra has been briefly described with its modifications.

Swami Gambirananda

13.7 Desire, repulsion, happiness, sorrow, the aggregate (of body and organs), sentience, fortitude- this field, together with its modifications, has been spoken of briefly.

Swami Sivananda

13.7 Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (the body), intelligence, fortitude the field has thus been briefly described with its modifications.

Commentaries

Swami Sivananda

13.7 इच्छा desire? द्वेषः hatred? सुखम् pleasure? दुःखम् pain? सङ्घातः the aggregate? चेतना intelligence? धृतिः fortitude? एतत् this? क्षेत्रम् field? समासेन briefly? सविकारम् with modifications? उदाहृतम् has been described.Commentary These principles form the frame or the skelteton on which the world of forms is built. All these are mental states and treated as properties of the body by the Sankhya school of thought. According to the NyayaYaiseshika schools? these are the inherent alities of the Self. The modifications have a beginning and an end. Only that which is unchanging can be the witness of these modifications. The knower of the field is unchanging. He is the witness of the field and its modifications.Desire is a modification of the mind. It is an earnest longing for an object. It is a Vritti (thoughtwave) born of Rajas which urges a man who has once experienced a certain object of pleasure to get hold of it as conducive to his pleasure when he beholds the same object again. This is the property of the inner sense. It is the field because it is knowable.You enjoy a certain sensual object. The impression of this is produced in the subconscious mind. This impression is vivified or revived through memory or remembrance of the sensual pleasure. Then desire arises to enjoy the object again. Repetition of the sensual enjoyment intensifies the memory and desire. Renunciation of the objects and meditation thin out the impressions and the desires.If anyone gives a description of the beautiful scenery of Badri Narayana or Mount Kailasa at once a desire arises in our minds to vist those places. If a man says that very good sweetmeats and mangoes are available in Bangalore? a desire to get these objects crops up in your mind. Therefore memory of sensual enjoyments and the hearing of the alities of the sensual objects are the root causes of desires. Hope fattens the desires. Hope gives a new lease of life to desires. Desire excites the mind and the senses. Desire makes the mind restless. Desire makes the mind wander in the sensual grooves.An object which is sweet and pleasant to you at one moment produces the very reverse of that sensation at another moment. Everyone of you might have had this experience. Objects are pleasant only when there is a longing for them. But they are unpleasant when there is no longing for them. Therefore desires are the cause of pleasure. If satisfaction arises through enjoyment of the objects? pleasure will cease. If your mind is destitute of desires then you will always enjoy serenity? eanimity? balance or poise in spite of many obstalces or adversities. The foundation of desire is the love of sensual pleasures. Desires run along the path of your inclination? proclivity or tendency or taste. Desire is the fuel. Thought is the fire. If you withdraw the fuel of desire? the fire of thought will be extinguished like an oilless lamp. The intellect becomes impure by association with desires.Hatred is a modification of the mind. It is a negative one. It is a Vritti that impels a man who,experienced pain from a certain object to dislike it when he beholds the same object again. Hatred also is field because it is knowable. The modification that arises in the mind when your desire is not fulfilled is called hatred.Pleasure is agreeable? peaceful? made of Sattva. This is also the field because it is knowable.Pain is disagreeable or unpleasant. It is also the field because it is knowable.Sanghata Aggregate? the combination of the body and the senses or the bundle of the 35 components of the body.Chetana Intelligence is a mental state which manifests itself in the aggregate just as fire manifests itself in a ball of iron. This is also the field because it is knowable. Chetana means consciousness and also the activity of the vital airs.Dhriti Firmness? courage? fortitude. It is a Sattvic modification of the mind. The body? the senses and the mind are sustained by firmness when they are depressed and agitated. The five elements are antagonistic to each other. Water destroys earth. Fire dries up water. Water puts out fire. Wind puts out a lamp (fire). Ether absorbs the wind. The five elements fight amongst themselves and yet they (that have a natural dislike for one another) dwell together ite amicably in the same body. Each element beautifully cooperates with the others in carrying on the common functions of the body harmoniously. Each element nourishes the other elements also with its own alities. Dhriti is firmness or the power by which these fighting elements are held in union and harmony and kept in a state of steadiness and balance. This is also the field because it is knowable.Desire and the other alities that are spoken of in this verse stand for all the alities of the mind. The field that is mentioned in the first verse has been dealth with in all its different forms in the fifth and the sixth verses.