REALIZATION OF THE UNITY OF EXISTENCE LEADS TO THE  ATTAINMENT OF BRAHMAN
    yadaa bhootaprithagbhaavam ekastham anupashyati
    tata eva cha vistaaram brahma sampadyate tadaa // 13.31 //

When a man sees the whole  variety of beings as centered in the One and from That One alone they spread  out, he then attains Brahman.

To know that the Self is the  ultimate Truth behind names and forms is only half knowledge. It can become  complete only when we understand how the multiplicity of names and forms arise  from the Self and spread to become the Universe. When the variety of nature and  its development are traced to the Eternal One, we assume eternity. He realizes  the all pervading nature of the Self, because the cause of all limitation has  been destroyed by the knowledge of unity with Brahman.

The Chhandogya Upanishad (VII.xxvi.1) says “From the Self is life, from  the Self is desire, from the Self is love, from the Self is akasa, from  the Self is light, from the Self are the waters, from the Self is the  manifestation and disappearance, from the Self is the soul”.

anaaditwaan nirgunatwaat paramaatmaayam avyayah
    shareerasthopi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate // 13.32 //

Being without beginning and  being devoid of qualities, the Supreme Self, imperishable, though dwelling in  the body, O Kaunteya, neither acts nor is tainted.

The Spirit identifying itself  with the Field becomes the knower of the Field (Purusha) and it is this individualized  ego that acts and accomplishes.

`Without beginning' means `no  cause'. Every cause itself becomes an effect and an effect is the cause in a  changed form. Therefore all effects are liable to change and that which changes  is perishable. The Supreme Self being an uncaused cause for all that has been  created has no beginning.

Having no quality or guna: That  which has no change cannot have any quality since that which has qualities are  substances and all substances are perishable.

Imperishable: The process of  change occurring in the properties and qualities of a thing is a phenomenon of  its decay. That which has no quality cannot change and that which is changeless  cannot perish. Paramatman is thus Imperishable. Therefore the Beginningless,  Qualityless, Imperishable Supreme Self, Paraamatman, though lives in physical  body and activates the inert matter (Field) around each embodied creature into  life, by Itself and in Itself, It does not act.

Neither acts nor is tainted:  As the Paramatman is not the doer of any  action he is not affected by the fruit of action.

A question arises here that if the  Spirit dwelling in the body does not act and is not affected by the result of  action, then, who is the performer or doer or agent of action and the reaper of  its fruit?  The answer to this riddle is  that it is Prakriti that acts (Chapter 5.14). Through illusion arises the idea  of the action, the doer, and the result of action. No action really exists in  the Supreme Lord. From the standpoint of Reality there exists neither good nor  evil. When the knowledge of the unity of the Lord and the universe is veiled by  ignorance, there arise the ideas of the pairs of opposites, and also the idea  of action, characterized by agency, instrument and result. e.g. from the  standpoint of the desert, there is neither mirage nor water as everything is  desert only; from the standpoint of the ocean there are neither waves nor foam  as everything is ocean only, from the standpoint of gold, there is neither a  bangle nor a necklace as everything is gold only.

This is one of the most difficult  concepts in Vedanta and the seeker must reflect on this deeply to grasp it. The  Lord gives some examples to illustrate the actionlessness of the Self.

yataa sarvagatam saukshmyaadaakaasham nopalipyate
    sarvatraavasthito dehe tathaatmaa nopalipyate // 13.33 //

As the all pervading ether is  not tainted, because of its subtlety, so too the Self that is present in every  body does not suffer any taint.

As the all pervading Akasa  (ether, space) is not soiled: Akasa means the concept of pure space. It is the  subtlest of all gross elements and hence pervades everything that is grosser  than it. Space being subtle, it allows everything to remain in it and yet  nothing that it contains can contaminate it. The Supreme Self which is the  cause of the very Akasa and therefore is subtler than Akasa. Hence It pervades  all and nothing pervades It. It cannot be contaminated by anything that exists  or is happening in the world of plurality.

As the waters of the mirage  cannot drench the desert, the world of plurality-the domain of matter and its  activities-cannot contaminate the Eternal. The Self, though permeates and  pervades the whole body, is not soiled by its virtuous or vicious actions just  as space is not dirtied by the things accommodated under it.

yathaa prakaashayatyekah kritsnam lokamimam ravih
    kshetram kshetree tathaa kritsnam prakaashayati bhaarata // 13.34 //

Just as the one sun  illuminates the whole world, so also The Lord of the Field (Paramatman)  illumines the whole world, O Bharata.

The exact relationship of  Consciousness, the Eternal Principle of Life, with matter and its various  expressions is explained here. The example given by The Lord for the purpose is  the one sun which illumines the entire world at all times. Just as the sun, the  Consciousness merely illumines the world of objects, the body, the mind and the  intellect.

Lighting of the world by the sun  is not an activity undertaken by him for achieving any purpose. On the other  hand light itself is the very nature of the sun and in his light everything  gets illumined. Similarly, the nature of Consciousness is awareness and in Its  presence everything becomes known i.e., illumined. The sun illumines  everything, good and bad, beautiful and ugly, virtue and vice etc. So too, in  our inner life Consciousness functions through body equipments and illumines  them but never gets contaminated by the actions of the body or by the emotions  of the mind or by the thoughts of the intellect.

kshetrakshetrjnayorevamantaram jnaanachakshushaa
    bhootaprakritimoksham cha ye vidur yaanti te param // 13.35 //

They, who by the eye of wisdom  perceive the distinction between Kshetra and Kshetrajna and of the liberation  of the being from Prakriti, go to the Supreme.

It was explained that the Spirit  is the illuminator. It cannot be tainted by the qualities of the illumined. Sri  Krishna now concludes that man's life is fulfilled only when he with his  discrimination meditates upon and realizes the constitution of and relationship  between the Field, the Knower of the Field and the Supreme Self in himself.  This can be achieved through the eye of wisdom or intuition which is opened up  by meditation, study of scriptures or teachings of the preceptors. One who realizes  this is liberated and attains eternal freedom.

Thus it has been very clearly and  emphatically laid down in the Bhagavad Gita that the means of deliverance from  maya or ignorance are meditation, renunciation and other spiritual disciplines.

om tat sat iti  srimadbhagavadgeetaasu upanishatsu brahma vidyaayaam yogashaastre sri  krishnaarjuna samvaade kshetra kshetrajna vibhaaga yogo naama trayodasho'dhyaayah  ||

Thus in the Upanishads of the  glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the  dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the  thirteenth discourse entitled  The Yoga of Distinction Between The Field and  the Knower of the Field

Concepts and Issues
  Prakriti (nature, the Field) and  Purusha (the being, Knower of the Field) are both beginningless. Purusha being  stationed in Prakriti experiences pleasure and pain born out of the Gunas. It  is attachment to Gunas that causes transmigration in good or bad births. One  who knows the Purusha and Prakriti thus will transcend rebirth.

Those who realize the Atman  (Purusha) through the pure mind or through Jnana Yoga or Karma Yoga will transcend  mortality. All objects in this world are created out of the conjunction of the  Field and the Knower of the Field. Parameswara, the Supreme Lord, exists in all  without distinction. One who realizes this fact attains the final goal of life.

It is Prakriti or the Field that  acts whereas the Self, though stationed in the body, never acts nor gets  tainted. The Knower of the Field, the Self, illumines the Field, the body with  consciousness like the sun illuminating the whole world. Those who can  understand the difference between the two - The Field and the Knower of the  Field- will attain Brahman.

Live as the Gita Teaches You to Live
  One should not identify oneself  with the functions of one's own mind, intellect, senses and body. One should  not confuse one's real nature, Pure Consciousness, with the products of  Prakriti.

Points to Ponder 
•Realization of the unity of existence leads to the attainment of Brahman 
•Being without beginning and being devoid of qualities, the Supreme Self, though dwelling in the body neither acts nor is tainted.

Next time we will take up Chapter 14

HARIH OM