Chapter 13Verse 6 of 34

Bhagavad Gita 13.6

इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतना धृतिः। एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम्॥

icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṅghātaś cetanā dhṛtiḥ etat kṣetraṁ samāsena sa-vikāram udāhṛtam

Translation

Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate, consciousness, firmness. Thus the field has been declared briefly with its modifications.

Now the field's dynamics. Desire pulls toward. Aversion pushes away. Pleasure and pain register. Sanghata, the holding-together of body-mind as a unit. Chetana, the appearance of conscious functioning. Dhriti, the steadiness that keeps it all running. Note that consciousness here is named as a modification of the field, not as the knower. That is a careful philosophical move. The lived sense of being aware is part of what gets watched, not the watcher. This unsettles a modern reader who tends to identify with awareness as the deepest self. The chapter is going to push the line even further inward. For now, just notice these seven as features of the field, and let them be field.

Reflection

Watch one of these seven modifications move through you without taking it personally.

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Thirteen

Ask the Gita about this verse →