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Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 13
Translation with Tantric Commentary
by Brother William

The Bhagavad-Gita, The Song of God, is sometimes called the Bible of Hinduism because
of its central importance as a source of so much of what we mean when we talk about Hindu
philosophy and religion. Any school of Hinduism to be considered orthodox must show that its
teachings are consistent with the Gita that has also been called a distillation of the Upanishads,
the section of Veda concerned with philosophy and the science of Self-realization and the body
of scripture considered most authoritative in Vedanta, i.e., Hindu philosophy. The Gita consists
of eighteen chapters written in metered verse that are embedded in the epic Sanskrit poem called
the Mahabharata.
The Gita also includes information about Yoga philosophy and practice, specifically meditation.
It also gives doctrinal and practical bases for devotional approaches to Self-realization and
introduces the concept of the Incarnation of God. Each chapter is entitled a different Yoga.
The word yoga here should be understood in the broad meaning of any spiritual practice
undertaken for the sake of Self-realization. Reading the Gita, therefore, should be considered part
of Yoga practice, broadly defined, and even more so putting what you read into practice.
Although the Gita is set on a battlefield between two opposing armies, the historicity of the
personalities and events is unimportant to most Hindus who view the teachings as timeless and
just as relevant today as they were whenever they were composed. For the sake of simplicity and
clarity I have replaced all epithets for Krishna and Arjuna, the principal characters, with just their
names. Krishna is an Incarnation of God, and Arjuna, a warrior prince, is his friend and disciple.
The conversationactually literally a song because it is written in poetic versetakes place in
Arjunas chariot on the brink of a fratricidal war. Arjuna balks at killing kinsmen, but Krishna
tells him to stand up, fight, and do his duty. Many consider the battlefield an allegory of our
daily lives in which we have to battle inner foes, mental restlessness. laziness, and seemingly
endless desires for sense experience, intent on robbing us of our spiritual heritage. Arjuna
represents the ego personality, the small self, and Krishna represents the higher Self. The chariot
is a symbol of the body and its five horses are the five senses. It is the nature of the senses to
be restless and outgoing, but with patience and determination, and with consistent practice and
dispassion the horses can be controlled and made to serve our purpose.
I offer here my own translation with a commentary based in the non-dualistic Tantric doctrine
of Shakti as an explanation for why the One Non-dual Consciousness appears as many. I am
starting with Chapter Thirteen because it is so full of meaning, and because Ramana Maharshi
said this was his favorite chapter. Some versions of the Gita have an extra verse at the beginning
of the chapter in which Arjuna asks Krishna to tell him about the Field and the Knower of the
Field. The version I use for this translation, however, omits that verse.
Krishna said:
1. This body, O Arjuna, is considered the Field. The wise call the One who knows it the
Knower of the Field.

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In this one terse verse Krishna refers to the two aspects of Consciousness called in Tantra
Shakti and Shiva, respectively. The word Field here is used for Shakti, Consciousness in
manifestation, and Knower of the Field (Knower) is used for Shiva, Consciousness as Witness
or Pure Consciousness.
The word body in this verse refers not only to the physical body but also to everything that can
be experienced by a person both as sense perceptions and as inner emotional and mental states.
In short, the body mentioned here includes all of phenomenal existence.
Tantra begins with the body because it is the locus of identity at the beginning of spiritual life.
But we should not imagine that the boundary of self ends at the boundary of the physical body.
Through reason alone we can understand that our bodies exist in a field of existence that includes
the air we breathe and the food and water we eat, drink, and excrete, and our bodies exchange
molecules with our environment every moment of our lives. There is no separate existence for
the body even at the physical level of existence.
Furthermore, what we perceive through our senses as out there in fact occurs as mental activity
in our brains. We never know so-called external objects in themselves but only the information
that our senses feed our brains about them. We dont see an apple but merely the way light
reflecting off the apple stimulates the nerves in our retinas that then stimulate nerves in the brain,
creating a mental image of what we assume is out there. Under the influence of drugs or other
chemical imbalances in the brain, as in psychosis, we can hallucinate objects and persons that
may appear quite real to us at the time, even though others cannot see them. Our brains cannot
distinguish mental images from so-called sensory images, because both are produced in the
brain.
What we call inner and outer reality, therefore, is merely a convention of thought, although
there are practical reasons for thinking this way. (It helps to have some mutually consensual way
of interacting with people and things.) For a spiritual aspirant, however, it is useful to realize that
both inner and outer reality actually occur in a single field of awareness. What seems like two
worlds, an outer physical world and an inner mental world, is actually one mental world as far as
what we can actually know.
The wise mentioned in this verse are those with direct experience of non-dual Truth, the fact
of ultimate Oneness. Mere intellectual understanding of this philosophy is not enough. Belief
in this philosophy is not enough. True wisdom develops as a spiritual aspirant goes beyond
mere intellectual, emotional, or even intuitive understanding to experience directly the fact
that the Self is the Self of all beings and the Essence of all things. The Self cannot be known as
objects are known because it is always the Irreducible Subject, to borrow a term from Robert
Thurman, the Buddhist scholar. I call this state Absolute Subjectivity. The wise person becomes
Truth in super-conscious vision. As the Brahma Sutra says, The knower of Brahman becomes
Brahman. (Adhikarana XIII: Sutra 18) Brahman is another term for the Essential Self, but
without reference to identity with any body, i.e., formless, infinite, unborn, undying, and
undecaying.

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The wise first experiences the Knower, the Witness Self, apart from the Field, the manifesting
self, but as spiritual knowledge unfolds he realizes that both are One in essence. Ramakrishna
called the first stage jana, knowledge and the next stage vijna, full knowledge. To see
the One Consciousness manifesting as the world both in samadhi, one-pointed absorption in
Truth, and with eyes open is the goal of Tantric practice.
2. And know me as the Knower in all Fields, Arjuna. The knowledge of the Knower and the
Field I consider [true] Knowledge.
When Krishna says he is the Knower in all Fields, he is referring to himself in his aspect as
the Supreme Self, Paramashiva, as it is known in Tantra, Atman, as known in Vedanta, or also
generally as Sat-Cit-Ananda, Being-Consciousness-Bliss. In the non-dual philosophy of Vedanta
and Tantra there is only one Self in many beings, one Witness Consciousness that shines through
all the changes of the various body-mind beings.
It is common in Tantric meditation to utilize a form of deity as an object of meditation and
devotion. Therefore, it is useful for spiritual aspirants to meditate on Krishna, Ramakrishna, or
on any other Incarnation of God or divine form, knowing that the deity represents the higher
Self.
In Tantra specifically the divine form of the chosen aspect of deity becomes a bridge between
the aspirants own self-concept as a psycho-physical being to realization of the Self as the divine
essence, Pure Consciousness. The form and personality of the deity help the aspirant imagine
a state of being greater than our own, as the form of the deity is imagined as composed of
condensed Consciousness. In Tantric ritual the aspirant symbolically destroys his own bodymind and replaces that with the body-mind of the deity, fulfilling the Tantric dictum: Having
become God, one should worship God.
Meditation on a deity with form also engages our human need for emotional connection. Any
relationship we can have with a human being we can cultivate with God/dess. As one meditates
on the divine form, imagining the deity as living and conscious, feelings of love and attachment
grow, adding a sweetness to meditation practice. We feel Gods grace tangibly at times as our
efforts yield results far beyond what we have achieved on our own.
The Muaka and vetshvatra Upanishads both contain a story about two birds in the same
tree. One bird eats of the sweet and bitter fruits of the lower branches, but the other bird sits at
the top of the tree, basking in the glorious sunlight, unaffected by anything. When the lower bird
eats a bitter fruit, it looks up and briefly contemplates the splendor of the other bird, hopping up
one branch closer to the . Soon, however it forgets and starts eating fruits again. Eventually, the
lower bird, tired of eating fruits, approaches nearer the higher bird. But as the lower bird draws
nearer and nearer to the higher bird, a wondrous thing happens: the lower bird dissolves into the
higher bird, realizing that all his existence was just a shadow and dream of the higher bird. As we
meditate on a form of God, at first we imagine we are separate and different. But as meditation
practice matures, we discover more and more that what we call self is merely a thought in the
mind of God, as it were. In the final moment our sense of self dissolves into the Divine Being,
and we know that God, infinite Consciousness in infinite manifestation, alone exists.

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Thus the divine being leads us inexorably to union with the divine essence. Krishna considers
true or supreme Knowledge the realization that as phenomenal beings we are no-thing, mere
dynamic patterns of physical and mental functions, and the divine Self alone exists like the
glorious bird sitting in the sunlight, witnessing all the changes of the body-mind and through all
the body-minds we may inhabit. This knowledge is the true knowledge because it liberates us
from the compulsion to be reborn, burning away all karma, past actions and their results.
3. Hear me [now] succinctly about the Field, what it is like, its transformations, whence it
is, and also who he is and what is his power.
Krishna here speaks of the Field both in impersonal and in personal terms, because our
phenomenal being has both these aspects. Considered as an amalgam of psycho-physical
functions, our being behaves as an impersonal automaton. Even our brains function mostly
at an unconscious level, maintaining bodily functions effortlessly and with great efficiency.
In his book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (Pantheon Books, 2011) neuroscientist
David Eagleman gives numerous examples of autonomous functioning of the brain, and the first
chapter is entitled Theres Someone in My Head, But Its Not Me (nod to Pink Floyd). Even
accomplished meditators, he claims, those who can lower their heart rate or blood flow at will,
for example, still control only the merest surface of all that is taking place in the brain, and that is
a good thing, because it frees the conscious part of the brain to do things it does best.
At the same time we experience ourselves as personal beings with memory, feelings, and
imagination. Through these we create and inhabit a conception of self that includes family,
friends, and other human relationships. Krishna commands Arjuna to learn from him about the
origin of this autonomic phenomenal being, its nature and changes, and also to learn about its
personal aspect and abilities.
4. Sung by seers variously and separately in multitudinous verses, and also decisively in
texts that deal with Brahman replete with reasoning and rhetorical proofs;
In this verse Krishna establishes the pedigree of this teaching, confirming that what he is about
to say has been taught from time immemorial by seers of Truth and recorded in hymns that
have been chanted through the ages. Truth is the very fabric of Reality, and therefore it has no
beginning or end. A seer is one who has directly known the Truth of Oneness in superconscious
vision, and those with the aptitude to share what they have seen, have recorded this knowledge in
metered texts memorized in each generation to preserve the teachings.
Ultimate Truth is trans-rational, being ever the Subject and never the object of knowledge, but it
is never irrational. Reason must be satisfied for us to move beyond reason. Reason alone can take
us to the doorway of enlightenment by distinguishing the Knower from the Field, the essential
Self from the phenomenal self. However, the final step through the door of enlightenment
happens by a mysterious act of grace.
5. The great elements, ahamkara, buddhi, and also the Unmanifested, the ten organs, and
the one along with all that can be perceived by the five senses;

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In this pithy verse Krishna analyzes the Field, i.e., the phenomenal world, into its 24 component
parts, what Ramakrishna called the 24 Cosmic Principles (tattva) or Essences, a core teaching of
Tantra (some schools of Tantra count 36, but the essential breakdown is similar). It is important
to understand that these components all arise from Consciousness in a process that makes the
One appear as many, the very process that creates our own existence as individuals.
The five great elements are metaphorically named earth, water, fire, air, and space, (sometimes
called ether). These are not elements of the material world as understood in Western science.
Rather, they are psychological categories of subjective experience. Earth represents all
experiences possible through the sense of smell. Water represents all experiences possible
through the sense of taste. Fire represents all experiences possible through the sense of sight.
Air represents all experiences possible through the sense of touch. And space represents all
experiences possible through the sense of hearing.
The evolution of these elements from Consciousness is not something we should imagine
happened at some time in the distant past. Rather we should understand that this evolution of
the elements occurs in each of us at every moment. Here and now we exist as individuals as
the result of a dynamic play of Consciousness, and the potential to realize our original nature,
infinite Consciousness, is present in every moment if we know how to reverse the evolution in a
process called laya, devolution.
In the Bhuta-Shuddhi ritual, the Purification of the Elements, the core component of any
Tantric ritual, these elements are devolved one-after-the-other back into Pure Consciousness.
This is accomplished through a visualization of the spine having five psycho-spiritual centers
called cakras wheels, imagined as lotus flowers with a specific color and number of
petals. The following chart summarizes the cakras and their corresponding element, sense,
bija seedmantra, lotus petal and color, and location.

cakra

elemen
t

sense

mantr
a

petals

color

location

mldhra

earth

smell

lam

four

red

base of
spine

svdhihn
a

water

taste

vam

six

vermilion

genitals

maipra

fire

sight

ram

ten

smoky yellow solar plexus

anhata

wind

touch

yam

twelve

red

heart

viuddha

space

hearing

ham

sixteen smoky gray

throat

mental
content

OM

two

forehead

white

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In this visualization the crown cakra or sahasrra, is the location of Paramashiva, the ocean of
Consciousness in which the individual is dissolved in this ritual like salt in water. In the second
stage of the ritual a new, divine body is constructed from mantra, and the deity worshipped is
invoked into that body, so that the deity performs the remainder of the ritual.
The next component mentioned in the verse, ahamkara, the I-maker, is the mental function
that relates experiences to a specific center of consciousness. Sometimes translated as Ego,
ahamkara is more than just the conscious aspect of personality as conceived in Freudian
psychology; it is the function that creates in us our fundamental concept of separate identity.
Ramakrishna said, Ahamkara itself is Maya. Maya is that which makes the One appear as
many and thus blocks knowledge of our true being. The taming or eradication of ahamkara is a
primary task of most spiritual paths. In Tantra ahamkara is made to serve our spiritual purpose
by placing it in a relationship with God/dess. As Ramakrishna said, If the bastard must remain,
let it be the servant of God, or the friend, parent, or lover of God.
The next component Krishna lists is buddhi, often translated as intellect or the determinative
faculty. Buddhi is the mental function that enables us to grasp meaning and gain insight. For
example, you may be searching for a friend named Tom in a crowded station. At first you can
see a detail a or two, perhaps his height, hair color, or an article of clothing, but you are not
sure who you are seeing. As you get closer, other details begin to get filled in until the moment
when you know that the person you are seeing is truly Tom. That moment of certain recognition,
when various details have been amalgamated, analyzed, and finally summed up, is the function
of buddhi. When you first awaken quietly and know only that you exist but do not yet remember
who you are, that is the functioning of buddhi, the knowing function. Tantra includes memory
and imagination in the buddhi function.
Buddhi is also the spiritual heart, the center of being. In Tantra buddhi is the doorway to
enlightenment, the tiny pinprick in the barrier that separates us from our true nature that admits
the Light of Knowingness that is Consciousness. This light animates and illuminates all our
thoughts, feelings, and actions. The famous Gayatri Mantra specifically develops the buddhi
function that when awakened floods the mind with ineffable light and penetrating understanding,
as if your body and the world suddenly became transparent, and all knowledge was present
before you for the choosing.
Next Krishna mentions the Unmanifested, an epithet of Prakriti. In this analysis Prakriti is the
last evolute of Consciousness prior to the evolution of the five elements, and it is therefore the
proximate origin of the elements. Prikriti is the impetus and power to manifest the world. In
practical terms Prakriti is the first step in trans-egoic consciousness, the first true experience of
self beyond the body-mind but still aware of their existence. In devotion Prakriti is personified
as one aspect of the Goddess.
The ten organs listed next consist of the five organs of knowledge and the five organs of
action. The organs of knowledge are eyes, ears, skin, nose, and tongue. The organs of action
are the hands, feet, sex organ, anus, and larynx. The organs of knowledge provide doorways

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of experience in the phenomenal world, and the organs of action enable us to interact with this
world as driven by desire.
In an important sense our organs of knowledge create the world we experience because of the
limited range of their perception. We cannot see ultraviolet light, for example, but pigeons can,
and they use it to navigate. Each of our senses detects only the energies or qualities permitted
by our biology, yet we know that electromagnetic energy exists in a range far outside the ability
of our senses to detect. Therefore, we are blind to them unless we amplify our senses through
technology. Some women are born with a genetic mutation that gives them four color sensors-one more than the rest of us--enabling them to detect shades of color the rest of us cannot see.
The rest of us are color blind to those distinctions, so we never even notice what we are missing.
We generally accept what we experience is reality for everyone, but in fact what we can perceive
is only a tiny bit of a much larger reality that we do not perceive, and those with senses different
from our own that permit detecting sights, smells, tastes, touch sensations, and sounds beyond
the range of our senses certainly experience the world differently than we do.
The next component Krishna calls the one in the verse refers to manas, mind. Manas has
two meanings. The first meaning is the discrete mental function that weighs and analyzes data
obtained through the senses. In our example of trying to find our friend Tom in a crowded
station, for example, manas was the faculty gathering mostly visual information about the size,
shape, and color of our friend, his style of clothing and way of walking, and analyzing and
quantifying this data so that buddhi could make the final determinationTheres Tom!
The other meaning of manas here is the aggregate of all the mental functions, ahamkara, manas,
and buddhi, and the five mental senses called tanmatras. The tanmatras are what make dreams,
memory, and imagination possible, constructing images in our brains without needing an
external stimulus. In this meaning manas is the ultimate sense organ that controls all the others.
In the Bhuta-Shuddhi ritual manas is represented in the cakra located between the eyebrows with
the mantra OM.
The next component Krishna lists is all that can be perceived by the five senses. The idea is
that what we can perceive is part of who we are. We exist in and as a single field of awareness
with the body as the center. This is what we call reality, even though intellectually we can
understand that there is far more to reality than we ordinarily experience. Our reality is uniquely
our own, created by our limited senses and individual mind, including our memories, feelings,
fantasies, and experiences that further color what we think we know.
To understand anything else we must first understand ourself, and Krishna in this verse sums
up the impersonal, mostly autonomic functions. In the next verse he summarizes the personal
functions that create the sense of selfhood that we experience.
6. Desire, aversion, happiness, sorrow, the body, intelligence, and resolution: This is the
Field briefly described with its transformations.
Krishna in this verse summarizes the personal aspect of what we are as human beings.
Desire, aversion, happiness, and sorrow are the primary forces that motivate us through

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life. Intelligence gives us the ability to understand our world and ourself, and resolution
sets us on a course of action. The word I translated here as resolution, dhti, has a range of
meanings that could also fit here, constancy, firmness, courage, will, contentment, satisfaction.
In these last meanings the word represents the balance of the opposing forces of desire and
aversion, happiness and sorrow. To understand the verse fully think of all these meanings as part
of resolution. When we live life with the resolution to practice contentment with whatever
comes our way, we live life intentionally and fearlessly.
The unusual word Krishna uses for body here, sanghta, literally means aggregation of
physical matter. It is highly suggestive because this word challenges the reader to think deeply
about what the body truly is, a collection of physical matter organized into cells, tissues, and
organs. There is no one part that we can call a self, and yet put all together we automatically
consider this aggregate our self. By meditating on the composite nature of the body self, we can
more readily disidentify with it as a step toward discovering our true identity as the Essential
Self.
In verses 7- 11 Krishna lists twenty virtues beneficial to cultivate, which he calls
collectively knowledge.
7. Humility, sincerity, non-injury, patience, rectitude, service of the teacher, purity,
steadfastness, self-control;
Humility means acknowledging the value of others, not being a doormat. (Vivekananda) Acting
humble sometimes substitutes for true humility, but it is just another form of egotism, a spiritual
obstacle. The Sanskrit word translated as humility here implies that a truly humble person is one
uninterested in fame or even in making a good impression on others. Holy Mother, Sarada Devi,
used to say, Make the whole world your own. She advised us look for the good qualities in
others and avoid find fault with any. Ramakrishna used to say, Be the servant of all, and when
anyone would praise him, he said, I am the dust of the dust of the feet of everyone. Anytime
we imagine we are superior to anyone, we are far from Truth. The more we realize that anything
human from the most exalted to the most depraved is possible for us, the closer we are to true
humility.
Ramakrishna used to say that sincerity is the one essential thing in spiritual life. The Sanskrit
word here literally means without deceit, guileless. Ramakrishna was himself a perfect
example of childlike guilelessness.
Non-injury is considered the supreme virtue in both Hinduism and Buddhism, even over
truthfulness. My Guru used to say, Speak the truth but never a harsh truth. On the surface
non-injury may seem easy, especially for those of us who consider ourselves moral, we who
would never consider striking another in anger or in intentionally hurting the feelings of others.
But non-injury is a deep and subtle spiritual practice. As your self-awareness deepens through
meditation and other spiritual practices, you become more acutely aware of how harm may come
to others through your actions. Is casual sex really harmless when there is always the possibility
of disease transmission or emotional harm?

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Some question why this virtue is stated in negative terms, non-injury, instead of in positive terms
such as helpfulness. This is also a subtle point. Tantra teaches that each person has a personal
dharma, a unique propensity and path to enlightenment. The idea is that our dharma propels us
through the experiences we need to grow spiritually. We can therefore trust that everyone will
come to Truth sooner or later. Knowing this, we should be very careful not to interfere with
another persons dharma in the name of helpfulness.
People who meddle in other peoples lives without fully understanding the ramifications of their
meddling may do more harm than good. To help someone truly you must both understand the
needs of the person and have the skills to help. A good Samaritan finds an accident victim lying
unconscious. With the best intentions, but having neither knowledge of the persons needs nor
the skills to help, he tries to pick him up and in the process causes irreversible spinal-cord injury
and permanent paralysis. The desire to be helpful in itself is insufficient to avoid harm.
The Sanskrit word I translated as patience, knti, also means forgiveness. To endure the trials
and tribulations of life patiently is a great virtue, but without forgiveness as well, the mind is not
truly freed of the past. With true forgiveness comes forgetting of past wrongs. So patience occurs
in three stages, patient understanding of people and situations that annoy us, forgiveness for any
wrongs committed, and letting go of the memory of those wrongs. This process helps keeps the
mind free from obstacles to clear thinking and meditation. "Water bears no scars."
Rectitude implies both proper thoughts and proper deeds. A spiritual aspirant in general judges
what is good and proper by what advances him toward enlightenment. But rectitude also
involves considering what behavior is appropriate in a given situation. Some battles are worth
fighting, but others are best avoided for the sake of social harmony. The direct route is not
always the best when a circuitous route avoids harm to others and promotes peace.
Service of the teacher can mean direct personal service of the Guru, such as massaging his
feet or cleaning his room, and also service through applying the Gurus teachings in your life.
Both kinds of service are good, but not every disciple has the opportunity to serve his teacher in
person. A disciple best serves when he becomes so attuned to the Gurus wants and needs, he
does not wait to be asked, but offers service spontaneously. See Slavecraft: Roadmaps for Erotic
Servitude (2002, Deadalus Publishing Co.) by a grateful slave with Guy Baldwin, M.S., for an
in-depth and psychologically sophisticated analysis of the process of developing the true heart
of service. The Story of A Soul by St. Therese of Liseaux offers another model of service with
valuable lessons on getting along with people you dislike.
Purity means physical cleanliness as well as the cultivation of mental purity. A perfectly pure
mind is a mind that contains the single thought of God/Self. Mental purity is cultivated by the
daily practice of meditation, japa, i.e., repetition of a mantra given by the Guru, holy reading and
recitation, and by visiting holy persons and places. Mindfulness in action, or Karma Yoga, also
conduces to the development of mental purity. The idea is to make every action in life informally
a sacred ritual.
Purity in Tantric thought also means formal ritual purity. In order to prepare for performance of
any Tantric ritual the aspirant must first bathe. He does so by invoking the presence of the seven

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holy rivers of India in the water used for washing. There is a special mantra and sequence of
mudras for this. He can also simply repeat Ganga, Ganga, Ganga, thinking that the water has
become the sanctifying water of the Goddess Ganga and imagine as he bathes that his body and
mind are becoming pure by her touch.
After bathing the ritualist dons fresh clothing and remains mindful of God/dess while picking
flowers and grinding sandalwood paste for worship. He touches ritual items, flowers, incense,
etc., only with the thumb and last three fingers of the right hand avoiding the index finger. He
avoids speaking during the ritual except to utter the mantras needed for worship. If he must
speak, he speaks in Sanskrit, the language of the Gods, or if that is not possible, he washes
his mouth with Ganga water after speaking and before continuing the worship. Through these
meticulous observances the aspirant easily develops mental purity over time.
Steadfastness is essential for success in spiritual practice. Meditation year after year can
grow dry and seem unproductive. In fact we ourselves are the least qualified to judge our own
spiritual progress, which mostly occurs outside our conscious awareness. Holy Mother used
to say spiritual practice is like falling asleep on a cot and then someone picking up the cot and
carrying it a long distance. When you awaken, you find you have traveled far, seemingly without
effort. Ramakrishna said sincere spiritual aspirants are like hereditary farmers who never think
of giving up farming, even if their crops fail certain years. Steadfastness is a sign of mental
strength. When you find that you keep up your practice no matter what, even if you seem to get
nothing from it, you can know that you have progressed.
Self-control here means primarily control of the senses. Specifically, this means developing the
ability in meditation to withdraw attention from external, sensory phenomena and directing it
within at will. In a subtler aspect it means withdrawing attention from mental sense objects also
and directing attention back to its Source in Pure Consciousness. When we close our eyes, whole
worlds of memory and fantasy come alive, and it is all too easy to pass an hour of meditation
practice revisiting old pleasures or grievances or imaging anticipated experiences or projects.
We must develop the ability to redirect attention back to the thought of the Ishta, the chosen
aspect of the divine, whenever the mind wanders. Ramakrishna exhorts us to Go deeper even
when, through diligent practice, we have become able to hold the visualization for an extended
period. Beyond the form is the formless Essence, from which the form manifests. As the mind
becomes relatively uncluttered in visualizing the Ishta, the Essence shines through the form ever
more clearly, at first revealing the divine form as living and conscious, and ultimately leading
into the deeper aspects of meditation practice where form melts into formlessness.
But self-control also includes our behavior with others. A spiritual aspirant strives to control
his speech and conduct to avoid harm to others and to foster mental equanimity. He speaks only
when necessary and with economy. He abjures gossip.
In Tantra especially self-control also means training the senses to remain mindful during any
type of sense experience. Through the practice of Bhuta-Shuddhi, partially described above,
aspirants gain the ability to link input from each sense individually with the presence of God/
dess as Consciousness. Practicing this mindfulness while engaged in lifes many seemingly small

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actions like getting dressed, brushing the teeth, or making coffee is highly beneficial.
Those with the aptitude for pashu bhava, the mode of the animal, should generally avoid
experiences that engender mental disquiet or stir passions. Deeply entrenched in dualistic and
materialistic thinking, animal types see the world in opposites, male-female, good-evil. Animal
types progress best in spiritual life by cultivating virtues collectivity known as conventional
morality and piety, respect for living beings, reverence for elders, the holy, and holy places,
meticulous adherence to ritual conventions. They may think of their spouses as God/dess
embodied, and love and serve them accordingly, but they should limit sex to one partner and
moderate their passions.
Those with an aptitude for vira bhava, the mode of the hero, may follow their non-injurious
desires while remaining detached. Intellectually convinced of non-dualism, heroes understand
that masculine and feminine are two poles of a spectrum, that good and evil are defined in
relation to an individuals desires. He affirms the transience of life even in the midst of sensual
enjoyment. He cares nothing for the respect of others. He has attained the humble recognition
that all persons are more alike than not, and that he himself is capable of anything that is human.
He practices non-injury and truthfulness, but otherwise follows his desires, knowing and trusting
that these all lead to Self. As appealing as this may seem in contrast to the mode of the animal,
heroic spiritual practice is not for everyone.
It is common for some animal types to imagine they are heroes and rush to engage in advanced
spiritual practices such as sexual ritual or the use of intoxicants, but they only thereby degrade
themselves spiritually. If a person wants to test if he is fit for heroic forms of practice, I suggest
he practice strict celibacy for one year. Anyone who imagines he is fit for heroic practice without
the capacity to control his sexual urges is self-deluded. The seeming freedom of the hero is won
through hard self-discipline and effort.
Traditional Tantric sexual ritual is not some trendy, kinky twist on sex as those who misuse
the term Tantra in popular culture would have us believe. It is rather a powerful technology
designed in part to harness sexual energy in the quest for enlightenment. We must cultivate
the belief that there is nothing in life as important as this quest to develop enough stamina to
complete the journey in this life. It is true that everyone eventually will come to Truth, but those
who put off the effort now, comforting themselves with the thought that they have lifetimes to
complete the quest, are not yet serious about deeper spiritual life. Tantra is not for dilettantes
and dabblers, not something to be learned in a weekend workshop. It is a whole-life practice that
develops self-control to gather all our faculties, thoughts, words, and deeds, and applies them to
the task of Self-realization.
8. Dispassion toward objects of the senses, lack of egotism, indeed, and seeing the
disadvantages in the pain of birth, death, old age, and disease;
Krishna again and again throughout the Gita urges Arjuna to cultivate dispassion. Arjuna lives
a full life in the world with a wife (whom he shares with his four brothers), children, and his
responsibilities as a prince and warrior. At the beginning of the dialogue Arjuna suggests he
should, perhaps, renounce the world and go live in the forest as a forest ascetic or monk rather

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than fight and likely kill relatives and others he respects and loves in the war, but Krishna
crushes that notion with a variety of arguments in Chapter 2, reminding him that death and
rebirth are inevitable for the born, that God alone is the Doer, and that shirking his duty would be
viewed as cowardice by society, a judgment that no true warrior could bear.
Arjuna symbolizes all of us who are not ascetic monks, faced with difficult choices, confused
about what we should do at times, and laden with responsibilities. Cultivating dispassion rather
than renunciation, therefore, is the only practical option if we are serious about deeper spiritual
life. Ramakrishna taught householders to live in the world like a maid-servant in a rich mans
house. The maid cares for the rich mans children saying My Ram or My Hari, but in her
heart she knows her real children and home are in her village far away. If she is fired, she takes
nothing with her but the clothes on her back.
The message is to love and experience life, both happiness and sorrow, but to avoid clinging
either to pleasure and the things that please us or to pain. Some people define their whole identity
around grief or loss, and thus miss what pleasure and happiness they might otherwise experience.
Drama can become addictive because at least it reminds us that we are alive. A spiritual aspirant
wants to be constantly aware that everything in life, health, family, friends, career, possessions,
are transient, here today and gone tomorrow. We take nothing with us at death but whatever
lessons we have learned in life. Our true, spiritual home is the Essential Self that seems at
present far away, but in fact is always very near, nearer than our own heartbeat. We fail to see it
because it is so near and subtle. But through dispassion we develop the readiness to realize the
Self.
Lack of egotism is accomplished in Tantra by disidentifying with the body-mind organism, the
ever-changing self, and shifting identity to the divine being or Witness Self. The primary ritual
for doing this is Bhuta-Shuddhi, purification of the elements. The phenomenal ego identity,
what we commonly think of as our personality, is also placed in a relationship with the divine
personality, thus engaging feeling and emotion in spiritual practice.
Seeing the disadvantages in the pains of birth, death, old age, and disease means simply
seeing life as it is. Buddha said, Life is suffering, though some prefer to translate the saying
as, Life is disappointing. Even joys contain the seeds of sorrow because the greater the joy, the
greater the pain when it comes to an end. Embodiment brings with it inevitably birth, death, old
age, and disease. There is no escaping these. Birth is inherently painful because of the traumas of
the birth process. Death is painful because of the fear of the unknown and any regrets about what
we have left undone. Old age brings creeping decrepitude and loss of physical attractiveness.
Diseases of all kinds create innumerable pains.
A spiritual aspirant who has gained the advantage of a human birth and the guidance of an
enlightened Guru who deeply contemplates this stark reality of life gains greater enthusiasm for
spiritual practice, because he wishes to avoid future rebirths, reentering the uncertainties of the
same cycle of rebirth-death-rebirth without even the advantage of past-life recall. Perhaps he will
be born with the desires of a prince but in the circumstances of a pauper. Perhaps he may not find
an enlightened Guru next time. The thought of suffering the pains of childhood and adolescence
again can energize an aspirants spiritual practice.

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9. Detachment, not clinging to progeny, spouse, home, and the like, ever even-minded
regardless of what happens, desired or undesired;
This verse explains specifically what it means to be detached. The idea is to regard
all the cherished things of this world with the certain knowledge that all relationships,
accomplishments, and possessions are temporary. We are all just travelers in the caravan of life;
we pass through varieties of experiences and move on, taking nothing with us but the effects
of our actions. Progeny can mean children, projects, or career. Spouse may be a husband, wife,
or any domestic partner(s). The phrase "and the like" refers to extended family, friends, work
relations, and anyone or anything with which we may make lasting connections.
The phrase "ever even-minded regardless of what happens, desired or undesired" means
that a spiritual aspirant or realized soul regards all experiences equally as manifestations of
Consciousness. Both desired experiences and undesired experiences can unsettle the mind and
perpetuate bondage to ego-bound consciousness by either creating attachment and clinging or
by provoking aversion. Some ascetics who call themselves spiritual mistake aversion to sense
pleasure as detachment, not realizing that their aversion can bind them as surely as attachment
binds the hedonist. It is not that the ascetic has to abandon his asceticism but only his aversion
to and negative judgment of the natural enjoyment that comes with some sense experiences.
Constructing an identity around asceticism, as in "I'm a monk!", can be valuable in the early
stages of practice but deadly if monastic practice does not lead to realization of the Essential
Self that is much more than that limited identity. A monk or nun who takes pride in asceticism
becomes trapped in that attachment as surely as the hedonist who gets trapped in attachment to
pleasure.
This is a common theme throughout the Gita, do your duty in the world, fulfill your dharma, and
satisfy legitimate, non-injurious desires, but accept whatever comes without overly rejoicing
successes and without overly grieving losses. "Evenness is called Yoga," says Krishna (2:48).
From the point of view of Pure Consciousness success and failure are the same. The more we
identify with the Essential Self, the less we are disturbed by either loss or gain, and the more we
appreciate the varied play of the Divine.
10. Ever devoted to me in Yoga and to no other, frequenting uninhabited places, and taking
no delight in the society of humans;
Devoted to me in Yoga and to no other means making union with the Supreme Self the
central goal of life. Deeper spirituality is not for hobbyists. Spiritual practice, i.e., Yoga broadly
defined, becomes the pillar around which the sincere spiritual aspirant organizes all of life.
One becomes ready for the transformational revelation of the Essential Self only when one has
exhausted desire for any kind of worldly experience. Surrender to the Self comes when you
realize finally there is simply no place else to go.
Ramakrishna tells the story of a bird that falls asleep on the mast of a ship in port. While the
bird sleeps the ship silently sails out to sea, and when the bird awakens, there is no land in sight.
In panic the bird flies in one direction after another, but each time it returns to rest on the mast.

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Finally, finding no land in any direction, the bird surrenders to the fact that the mast it its only
refuge. In the same way we fly in all directions seeking experiences that beckon to us, promising
happiness and fulfillment, but always yielding loss and disappointment in the end. Tired of flying
about, we return to the Self, now certain that we have no other refuge.
The word Yoga here means all types of spiritual practices, specifically those that utilize reason
(Jnana Yoga), feeling (Bhakti Yoga), action (Karma Yoga), and meditation (Raja Yoga).
Through reason the yogi discriminates between the phenomenal self, the Field, and the Essential
Self, the Knower of the Field. Through feeling the yogi develops a personal relationship with
the Divine, channeling human emotions to the Divine Beloved. Through actions, specifically
through ritualized or mindful actions, the yogi connects every act to the thought of God/dess. In
Tantric ritual extraordinary attention gets generated in every action by the combination of mudra,
hand gestures, mantra, names of God/dess or ritual instructions for visualization, and a usefully
redundant process of purification, deification, and offerings.
When we speak of purification, it is good to remember that the only truly pure thing is
Consciousness, the fabric of Reality. Since this is the ultimate and essential substance of
everything, impurity can only mean our imperfect perception that mistakes Pure Consciousness
for gross matter. Therefore, when we perform purification rituals, it is to remind ourselves of the
original purity of whatever we are purifying, the body, ritual space, image, offerings, etc. We
should visualize everything shining with the Light of Consciousness.
In the next step in Tantric ritual, deification, the undifferentiated Consciousness is personified as
a deity in each ritual component, the seat, the door, the image, and the offerings. In each instance
the deity is acknowledged and worshiped with water, flowers, and sandal paste. Thinking of each
physical component of the ritual as living and conscious then worshiping the living deities with
actual offerings concretizes the idea that everything is Consciousness. Finally the body and mind
of the worshipper are replaced by the Divine body, mind, senses, and life energies. And it is this
Divine body that makes the pleasing offerings in the third step of the ritual to the same deity
evoked in the image.
About frequenting uninhabited places Ramakrishna recommended that sincere devotees
should spend time in solitude now and then. Even those with many worldly duties can make
time for spiritual practice, if there is the will to do so. Attention is like a fountain, incessantly
flowing, but where we direct that flow of attention determines the quality of our lives. Swami
Atulananda, a monk of the Ramakrishna Order originally from Austria, revealed in his book,
The Atman Alone Abides, that he experienced the most intense meditations while working at an
office in New York City. He was always aware of how little time each day he could set aside
for meditation practice, and therefore he made the most of the time he had. Later, when he had
become a monk of the Order, he found he had plenty of time for practice but felt less urgency
than before. Uninhabited places could be an ashram retreat, a day in the mountains or at the sea,
or precious hours carved out of a busy working schedule set aside for practice alone in the corner
of a room.
taking no delight in the society of humans occurs naturally as one progresses in
meditative life. So little of the time we spend with others is truly quality time. Instead we tend

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to fritter away our attention and energies on gossip or other trivial interactions. The company of
other sincere spiritual aspirants or holy persons, on the other hand, can be very beneficial. It is
not that we need to become hermits, necessarily, but we should practice economy of speech and
talk about spiritual matters with those who share our convictions. Talking with skeptics about
spiritual practice is rarely productive and often harmful to faith. There is no need to save the
world. Sometimes we have the urge to share something of our spiritual ideas with others, but
unless our listener has an open mind, our words fall like seeds on stony ground.
11. Forever dedicated to Self-knowledge, seeing knowledge of Essence as the goal [of life]:
this is what is called Knowledge. Ignorance is anything else.
In Tantra dedication to the quest for Self-knowledge is the ideal rather than renunciation of a
presumably illusory world. The senses draw our attention outward, no doubt, and we have to
learn how to redirect attention back to its Source in the Essential Self. But we cannot meditate
24 hours a day. Tantra provides a methodology for integrating all of our life activities into our
spiritual practice. By training the senses individually in the Bhuta-Shuddhi ritual, we learn to
see the Consciousness behind every experience, pleasant or unpleasant. what Krishna describes
as the union of Brahman and action. (4:24). Everything we do daily in life, getting dressed,
making coffee, brushing our teeth, bathing, etc., can be done mindfully, thus brining awareness
of the Divine into daily life. Mindfulness cultivated in one activity spills automatically into
others. The goal is unbroken mindfulness throughout the day.
The knowledge of Essence become the goal of our life when we realize that it is only in that
realization that we become whole and fulfilled. It is only when we realize the Essential Self that
we truly come home. The Essential Self is all that remains when everything else, relationships,
possessions, accomplishments. the physical body and even the mind, are temporary and transient,
here today, gone tomorrow, ever changing and ultimately unreliable and disappointing. Its not
that some measure of happiness cannot be had in worldly experience. In fact the Divine assume
all the forms of the world to play and experience every type of existence, beautiful and horrific.
But the world is best enjoyed like a shiny, iridescent soap bubble. It lasts only a few moments,
and if you try to hold it, you destroy it in the process. Suffering occurs due to clinging to things
that pass away. When through sufficient suffering we are finally ready to let go, then the Bliss
that is the very fabric of Reality wells up and fills us with the sure knowledge that we are one
with all that is. Then we know all things in Essence.
Having described the virtues needed to prepare oneself for Self-realization, Krishna in the next
verses describes the Divine Being in various aspects, mentioning some of the infinite wonders
that may be revealed as we venture ever deeper into the mystery of the
Supreme Self.
12. That which is to be known I will tell you, knowing which you attain immortality. The
Supreme Brahman [is] beginningless. It can neither be said to exist nor not to exist.
That which is to be known means realization of the Essential Self. This realization is
to be known because it is inevitable for all individuals eventually. The Essential Self is the
Self of all beings, and desire eventually leads to the realization that nothing but the Self affords

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eternal refuge. Knowledge here is alogical because the duality of a knower subject and known
object do not exist when we realize the Self. Instead we become what we know, as it were. More
accurately, we realize we were always That but temporarily forgot due to the bewitching power
of Maya-Shakti, the manifesting aspect of Consciousness.
Realization of the Essential Self confers immortality because of disidentification with the the
phenomenal self. It is only the body-mind organism that undergoes the states of birth and death.
When we know we are in essence the Self of all body-minds, the death of any one becomes a
simple fact of life, nothing to grieve over or fear. The Self alone persists through all states of
being and states of consciousness, waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. That alone shines in
the fourth state, Turiya, when we awaken to our true and original Self.
Krishna begins describing the Supreme Brahman as beginningless. He is talking about
existence outside of our normal frame of reference we call time. The Supreme Brahman is
Nirguna-Brahman, Brahman without qualities, the Shiva-Shakti-aspect of Consciousness prior to
the fundamental distinction between the two, without reference to anything known or knowable
in the ordinary sense of knowing. Brahman is the Ground of Being, the fabric of Reality. As such
it has no beginning and no end. Our visible universe, that comprises a mere 25% of all the known
matter and energy we can detect or infer at our present level of technology, seems to function in
dimensions of time, space, and causation. Dark matter and energy, the existence of which we can
only infer from their effects, comprise the remaining 75% of the known universe according to
our current level of scientific knowledge, and we do not understand what laws of physics might
be operative in dark matter and energy. Unlike the physicist who looks outward for answers to
the fundamental substance of reality, the mystic gains direct knowledge of the Essence of Reality
within in superconscious vision sometimes called samdhi. Brahman is timeless, existing in an
eternal NOW. In samdhi the mystic experiences Brahman, realizing that timeless Existence as
Self.
Brahman can neither be said to exist nor not to exist because speech and the mental
processes that occur prior to speech exist in the universe of time, space, and causation. The
existence of Brahman is independent of all things, and therefore the relative dualities of
existence and non-existence do not apply to Brahman. Brahman is Existence, Being; it is absurd
to say Existence exists, because the category or state of existing comes after the fact of
Existence. It is equally absurd to say Existence does not exist, because there would be no one to
make that assertion if there were no Existence.
13. Everywhere its feet [and] hands; everywhere its eyes, heads, and mouths; everywhere
its ears in the world. Having pervaded all, it remains.
In this verse Krishna talks about Saguna-Brahman, Brahman with qualities, the Shaktimanifesting aspect of Consciousness, and he indicates that all beings with their various senses
are the many faces of Brahman. In Tantra we say that the Goddess, Shakti, becomes all this,
manifesting the universe out of her own being, and then playing in and as the universe of
multitudinous forms.
This is the fundamental principle behind Tantric worship of a murti, or image, both living and

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inanimate. If the universe did not embody the Divine, worshipping images or living bodies
would be pointless idolatry. It is precisely because this universe is the body of God/dess that
by reminding ourselves of this fact in Tantric ritual we can utilize form as a stairway to the
formless.
Saguna-Brahman pervades all, assuming all these forms, and remains as the Nirguna Essence
of all. Through worship of any form of God/dess we can realize both the Saguna- and NirgunaBrahman.
14. Shining through all the senses and their functions, [yet] devoid of all senses; detached,
the support of all; without gunas and [yet] the Enjoyer of the gunas.

In this verse Krishna presents a riddle that perplexes the ordinary intellect. Describing Brahman
in seemingly contradictory ways challenges the mind to transcend our usual, dualistic ways
of thinking to comprehend That which is the Source of mind yet not mind itself. Brahman as
Consciousness shines through our senses, illuminating the world like the Sun that illuminates
the Earth. Although Consciousness is the power by which we see, hear, smell, etc., it itself is
never seen, heard, or otherwise sensed because it is always the Subject and never the object of
perception. The eye cannot see seeing. The Kena Upanishad says, It is the ear of the ear, the
mind of the mind, the speech of the speech, the life of the life, the eye of the eye. (1:2)
If life is a movie, then the light that projects the movie is Consciousness. Everything in the
movie depends on that light for existence, yet the light itself is unaffected by anything that
happens in the movie, good or bad. Movie characters move about and interact with one another
and their environments due to the light that projects them all, but the light itself has no senses or
organs of action. From the point of view of the Light of Consciousness, everything that happens
in our movie of life is equal, everything and everyone has a place. The light is detached from the
dramas, comedies, horrors, and tragedies that occur in the movie.
The word guna means thread or quality. In this verse Krishna refers to the three gunas,
sattva, equilibrium, rajas, dynamism, and tamas, inertia, that comprise the manifested world.
The gunas are the substance of Prakriti, the manifesting aspect of Shakti. It is through these
three qualities that Shakti creates, maintains, and destroys the manifested universe. In our movie
metaphor the gunas are collectively the film through which the light projects the movie, giving
shape and form to that which is essentially formless.
Brahman is said to be Nirguna, without gunas, when we think of it as quiescent Consciousness,
the Witness, who simply watches the play of Shakti, like Shiva watching Kali dance on his breast
as he lies still beneath her. He is the support of all manifestation, the Ground of Being, as Shiva
is the support of the Goddess Shakti, yet he is unattached and uninvolved with all the drama and
playful manifestations of the Goddess.
To realize the Essential Self we must first cultivate the quality of equanimity that comes from
the preponderance of sattva, overcoming the restlessness of rajas and the lethargy of tamas.
But then we we have to detach even from that mental state to gain freedom. Ramakrishna used

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to compare the gunas to three robbers. Having robbed a man. Tamas says, Kill him! Rajas
replies, No, just tie him and leave him here. Later Sattva comes and unties the man and leads
him to the road, pointing the way home saying, I cannot go farther, or I will be apprehended by
the police. All the three gunas rob us of knowledge of the Essential Self, but sattva can show
the way by bringing serenity to the mind.
15. Outside and inside [all] beings, animate and inanimate: due to its subtlety it is not
perceived, that which is far and near.
The terms outside and inside here refer to the physical body as the locus of identity. The
experience of the physical body as the self is where aspirants begin Tantric practice. In the
Chandogya Upanishad (8:7:1) we find the story of Indra, king of the gods, and Virochana, king
of the asuras, the cousin-enemies of the gods, who both go to Prajapati, the Creator, to learn
about the Self. They live with him and serve him as disciples for 32 years, and then Prajpati
tells them to go look at their reflections in water and then return with any questions they may
have. Virochana looks at his reflection and concludes that the physical body is the Self. He
joyfully returns to the asuras to teach them this.
Indra, too, at first comes to the same conclusion, but then he questions how the physical body
can be the Self that is described as ageless, deathless, free from hunger and thirst, that desires
and imagines only Truth So he returns to Prajapati for more instruction, and Prajapati tells
him that that the self that roams about in dreams is the Self. Again Indra thinks deeply about this
teaching, but again he returns to Prajapati for more instruction, dissatisfied with the conclusion
that the dream self is the Self. Then Prajapati tells Indra that the self in dreamless sleep is the
Self, but again Indra cannot accept that. Finally, Prajapati tells Indra that the mortal body is the
vessel of the immortal Self that is formless.
In Tantric ritual the aspirant affirms that the physical body and senses along with the subtle
body and mental senses all have their origin in Consciousness. The aspirant merges his identity
in the formless Ocean of Consciousness in the first phase of the Bhuta-Shuddi ritual. In the
next phase the aspirant creates a divine body from Consciousness, and into this divine body
the specific deity being worshiped is evoked. Through this process the aspirant experiences
that inside and outside are merely conventions of thought, that we exist in and as a single
field of Consciousness that is the substance of all things animate and inanimate, everyone and
everything is alive with Consciousness.
We do not normally perceive the Self, not because it is utterly alien or far away, but because it
is so near and so subtle. The very concepts of far and near imply separation, and there is
no separation in the Self. Far and near, like inside and outside, refer to identification with the
physical and subtle bodies only. In Self-realization far and near merge into the One.
16. Undivided and [yet] as if remaining divided among beings; That is to be known, the
Support of beings, the Devourer and also the Creator.
Brahman is non-dual and therefore essentially undivided, being the unified Ground of Existence,
existence itself. Through the action of Maya-Shakti the One appears as many, Consciousness

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manifesting as all the forms of the visible universe. Consider how in dreams we find ourselves
occupying an individual ego identity that may or may not resemble our waking identity and
form. Within a dream we experience other beings, people, animals, fantastical creatures, and
all the objects of the physical world, buildings, landscapes, mountains, oceans, etc. We can
understand how all these forms consist of Consciousness, existing only in our heads, so to
speak. However, the waking state is not substantially different from the dream state that can
seem quite real as long as we are dreaming with no memory of our waking life. In fact the
various objects and forms in both states are the product of Consciousness in manifestation. It
is not such a stretch to understand that everything we know or can know as individuals occurs
entirely as a psychological experience, being filtered through our senses and mind. Our brains
run almost entirely on automatic pilot most of the time, filling in the blanks of what we do
not perceive with what we assume or expect to be. It is only when we consciously point our
attention at something that it comes into focus in detail, and even then what we expect to be there
can easily substitute for what is actually there, as demonstrated dramatically in the artistry of
illusionists. Illusion, one thing appearing as another, is the very fabric of phenomenal existence.
It is only in mystical realization that the underlying Truth is revealed.
Brahman is to be known because it is the ultimate Reality, the Truth of our being and the being
of the universe and beyond. Knowing That, a person become enlightened, and the illusion
of being merely a limited individual vanishes in an instant, along with the notion that we as
individual actually do anything. In that realization Consciousness is known as the support, the
substratum of all things, and what we experience as creation and destruction are also known as
part of the divine play. The infinite, shoreless, shining Ocean of Consciousness morphs itself
into all the forms of the universe in a continuous act of creation in the eternal Now. These forms
persist for a time, sustained by their Essence, and then they merge back into the formless Ocean
again, as if devoured. Knowing this a person transcends fear and grief and experiences the
Essential Bliss that is the All.
In the Puranas we find Consciousness in the role of Creator personified as Brahma-Prajapati.
Consciousness in the role of the Sustainer is personified as Vishnu, including his many
incarnations, Rama, Krishna, and Ramakrishna, to name a few. Consciousness in the role of
Devourer is personified as Rudra or Shiva. One Being with innumerable faces manifests to
different cultures in different times in different ways, but the basic themes are the same.
17. That Light of all lights, indeed, is said to be beyond darkness. Knowledge, what is to be
known, and the Goal of Knowledge exist in the hearts of all.
Light is a metaphor for Consciousness. Both light and Consciousness instantly fill any space
and reveal what is there. Unlike physical light, however, the Light of Consciousness is living
Light that morphs itself willfully into all the forms of the universe. It is said to be beyond
darkness, the light that shines in darkness, (John 1:5) because Consciousness as Witness
exists prior to all objects of perception, including the perception of darkness and also the
memory of nothingness, as in dreamless sleep. Consciousness is beyond the darkness of
ignorance of the true nature of Self, unaffected by the karma committed in ignorance, good or
bad, just as the light that projects a movie is unaffected by anything that happens in the movie.

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Knowledge here means Self-knowledge, direct realization of Atman-Brahman, the true Self,
that occurs in samadhi, when the ego self gets pushed aside and the real Self shines through,
revealing that everything you thought you were as an individual consists merely of patterns of
mental and physical functions, while the real Self is infinite Consciousness. What is to be known
is the union of Atman and Brahman, that the Self is the Self of all things and all beings. The
Goal of Knowledge is liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth into the freedom of
Self-realization.
Heart here means the spiritual heart, the Center of being. In Tantra this is often visualized
as an eight-petaled golden lotus located just below the anatomical heart, the hridaya-kamala,
the heart lotus. By directing attention back to its Source in the Center of being, often visualized
as a divine being seated on the heart lotus, we can detach our identity from the body-mind
functions, shifting identity to the divine being, and then through that divine being discovering the
Self that is the Witness of the body, mind, and the world of sense objects. In that super-conscious
vision everything is known in essence and the purpose of human life is fulfilled.
18. Thus have been described succinctly the Field, Knowledge, and what is to be known;
having known this, my devotee attains my Being.
In this verse Krishna summarizes the previous verses. In the first stage of Bhuta-Shuddhi
the aspirant detaches his identity from the Field, that is, from all the aspects of phenomenal
existence that define him as an individual, separate and distinct from others. In the second half
of the ritual the aspirant creates a divine body with which to engage the phenomenal world, but
with a transformed perspective, seeing the world through the eyes of God/dess, as it were. The
Knowledge that the Essential Self is detached from the Field is necessary before the aspirant can
realize what is to be knownthat ultimately the Field and Knower, Shakti and Shiva, are One in
essence, that everything and everyone is divine.
It is easy, of course, to read these words and imagine that you now actually know something.
If the Field and the Knower are One, you might conclude, then why bother with all that
inconvenient and arduous spiritual practice? Just affirm the One and let it be.
However, the Knowledge Krishna speaks of here is not mere intellectual knowledge, mere words
and some kind of understanding of the words. Krishna speaks of direct spiritual realization that
occurs in super-conscious vision. To jump from a phenomenal identity to Oneness with All is
like jumping from the ground to the roof of a tall building in a single bound. Those who make
this attempt without adequate preparation and strength can easily become deluded, imagining
themselves great Knowers of Truth while still deeply attached to the body-mind identity. Thus
they fall from the path for a time until painful experience wakes them to their folly.
Tantra teaches us to begin spiritual life from where we actually are in terms of our experience
of self as a separate body-mind in a world full of material objects. Tantra provides a stairway
from this experience, from the ground to the rooftop, from identity with the individual bodymind, through identity with a divine body-mind, such as Krishna himself, to identity with
Consciousness itself, the essential Being of God/dess. Thus the devotee in stages attains this
essential Being. The devotee as a devotee does not attain the Being of God/dess. But the devotee

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who, transcending the limitations that define and subscribe individuality, experiences the
Essential Self and knows that he is One with God/dess in essence.
19. Know that Prakriti and Purusha are both beginningless. Know, also, that
transformations and the gunas are born of Prakriti.
Prakriti and Purusha, terms evocative of dualistic Sankhya-Yoga philosophy, are used
here in the non-dualistic sense of Shakti and Shiva, respectively. Prakriti is Consciousness in
manifestation and Shiva is Consciousness as Witness. They are beginningless because Existence
has no beginning and no end. They are the origin of all manifestation, and they remain after
dissolution of the universe.
Shakti-Prakriti transforms herself into the manifested universe in an act of playful will, creating
all things from her own substance, i.e., the three gunas, sattva, rajas, and tamas. She is thus the
origin and substance of all forms. It is necessary to discover the beginningless Essential Self
apart from Prakriti, as prescribed in Yoga, however the next step in realization is discovering
that same Self manifesting as Prakriti. In Tantra this is accomplished through the Bhuta-Shuddhi
ritual.
20. Prakriti is said to be the cause of what is to be done, of doing, and of doership; Purusha
is said to be the cause of the state of being the enjoyer of pleasure and pain.
The idea of action presents a challenge for non-dualistic philosophy: If there is only One
Being, then who is to act upon what or whom?
In Tantra the active aspect of Consciousness, Shakti, here called Prakriti, is the fundamental
cause or source of all aspects of action. Action has three aspects, the action itself, i.e., what is to
be done, the instrument of action, i.e., the doing of the action, and the doer of the action. All of
these derive from Shakti-Prakriti.
For example, a carpenter decides to build a chair. The project of building the chair is the action,
what is to be done. The tools and materials the carpenter employs, including his own body,
hands and brain, are the instruments of the doing of the action, and the carpenter experiences
himself to be the doer due to the action of the ahamkara function of the mind. Prakriti is really
the source and ultimate Doer of all these. Deluded by ahamkara, a person thinks he is the
Doer. (Gita, 3:27)
But action alone without an Enjoyer, without a Witness, is meaningless. Shiva, here called
Purusha, is the principle of Enjoyership, the aspect of Consciousness that watches the
manifestations of Shakti. It is Shiva-Purusha within us that gives us the sense that we enjoy or
experience things. Through the action of ahamkara, again, we think that our experiences are
ours alone. However, Purusha-Shiva is the real source of even the concept of being an enjoyer.
In meditation and in ritual we learn to dis-identify with the body-mind pattern of functions that
creates the false senses of being a separate enjoyer or doer. Through this process we discover our
Essential Self, and the ultimate discover that same Self in manifestation everywhere.

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Pleasure and pain here represent all the dualities we experience in life, good-evil, happinesssorrow, light-darkness. From the perspective of Consciousness all these are the same as
experience. All experiences contribute to the divine play just as different characters and plots
combine to make an entertaining movie.
21. Purusha, embedded in Prakriti, enjoys the gunas born of Prakriti. Identification with
the gunas is the cause of his birth in auspicious and inauspicious wombs.
Krishna describes in this verse the condition of the jivatma, i.e., the individual being that
comes into existence when Purusha identifies with the gunas of Prakriti. Consciousness as
Witness exists embedded in the psycho-physical organism, the product of Consciousness as
Shakti. Identifying with the body-mind and born into either spiritually auspicious or spiritually
inauspicious circumstances due to past karma, Consciousness experiences all the experiences
possible for embodied beings. Although Consciousness illuminates all these experiences,
making them possible, Consciousness itself is unaffected by any of the experiences, pleasant or
unpleasant. We who experience ourselves as individuals fully identified with a body-mind self
enjoy and suffer, believing due to ahamkara that these experiences are ours alone. But Purusha
alone is the Experiencer.
The way out of bondage to a limited ego perspective and the suffering that inevitably goes with it
is realization of the Essential Self, Shiva-Purusha, apart from Prakriti.
Krishna in this verse is still speaking about the Field and the Knower, using the terms Prakriti
and Purusha instead, but in this verse he explains how the One infinite Being gets divided into
individual beings. In Tantra we say the Goddess, Mahamaya, the Great Enchantress, playfully
assumes all the forms of the universe, hiding and then revealing herself at her whim, while Shiva
observes all this loviningly. Since all manifestation is born of Prakriti, everything we think
we are, and everything we can experience is under her control. For this reason Ramakrishna
beseeched the Mother for her vision. He used to tell devotees to ask the Mother for pure
devotion, and further ask that she never delude them by her world-bewitching maya.
22. The Witness, the Permitter, the Support, the Enjoyer, the Great Lord, and also the
Supreme Selfthus the Supreme Purusha has been described in this body.
This verse describes the different names and functions of Shiva-Purusha. The Witness is the
aspect of Consciousness that watches the content of the mind and observes what the senses
perceive. As Permitter Consciousness makes possible all the actions of the mind, senses, and
body, and as Support Consciousness underlies every experience making existence possible. As
the Enjoyer or Experiencer Consciousness makes possible every kind of experience, and as the
Great Lord, Maheshvara, Consciousness ensures that the results of karma are meted out justly.
Personified the Great Lord is the ultimate object of devotion, the highest reading of the Infinite
filtered through our mind and senses. By establishing a relationship with him we are able to
employ our human feelings in spiritual practice, and we can talk to God/dess as to someone who
is our very own, closer than our heartbeat, the most intimate of intimates.

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The phrase in this body means that all these functions of Consciousness exist within us, and so
it is within that we should seek the Supreme Purusha or Great Lord (or Lady).
Those who cannot accept the idea of a personal God/dess seek the Supreme Self within.
Although that path is steeper and difficult for the embodied to follow, we follow the path that
best suits our inborn nature. The Tantric path, however, utilizes whatever works best in a given
situation. The Guru ultimately will guide the disciple in choosing a path that will work best.
23. The one who thus knows Purusha and Prakriti along with the gunas will not be reborn
however he lives.
The Knowledge of which Krishna speaks is direct realization in super-conscious vision that
Purusha is the Essential Self, not mere intellectual understanding of the concepts of Purusha,
Prakriti, and the gunas. The mistaken notion, I am the doer, caused by ahamkara, which is a
manifestation of Prakriti, creates bondage to karma, actions, that keeps the individual bound to
the wheel of birth-death-rebirth. When the realization dawns that the Essential Self is merely the
Witness of action, the dazzling illusion of personal identity is seen for what it truly is, dissolving
into the psycho-physical functions created by Prakriti from the gunas. Body, mind, and senses
collectively create the appearance of individuality, but this appearance is a chimera merely,
being ever-changing and impermanent.
Tantric saints from Ramprasad to Ramakrishna have sung songs cursing the Goddess for keeping
us deluded while acknowledging it is also her grace that frees us. As long as we remain identified
with our own human personalities, the divine will also seem to have personality. By cultivating
a personal relationship with the divine ahamkara can be transformed from spiritual enemy to
friend.
24. Some see the Self by the Self in the Self through meditation; others [do so] through
Sankhya Yoga and others through Karma Yoga.
The Essential Self, as we have discussed, is never an object of perception or knowledge but
always the Subject, the Knower, and therefore Krishna attempts to express the inexpressible
through poetic language that can merely point the way without actually revealing what can only
be known in direct experience. The Essential Self, so to speak, remembers its original nature in
the super-conscious state of samadhi, when attention is turned on its Source in meditation, and
Knower-Knowledge-Known unite.
Some also come to this realization through Sankhya Yoga, another term for Jnana Yoga, the use
of reason to discriminate between the Essential Self and Prakriti and thus discover ones true
identity in the Essential Self.
Others come to this realization through Karma Yoga, that is, through sacred ritual or through the
transformation of everyday actions into sacred ritual by the practice of mindfulness in action. As
Krishna commands Arjuna, Remember me and fight. (8:7)

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Tantric ritual is an especially efficacious way of learning to connect everyday actions, bathing,
cooking, eating, entertaining, into spiritually potent methods of remembering God/dess in
the midst of action. The ritual trains the senses to remind the aspirant of the divine instead of
being distracting, as they normally would be. This Karma Yoga is the speciality of Tantra, but
meditation and discrimination are also employed along with Bhakti Yoga, devotion, to create a
spiritual practice that utilizes all of our faculties, reason, emotion, sensuality, and introspection,
to attain Self-realization.
25. Others, without knowing [through Self-realization] but, having heard [about it] from
others, worship accordingly, wholly devoted to what they heard, they also overcome death.
There are three steps to Self-realization according to the Upanishads, hearing about the Truth,
thinking about the Truth, and meditating deeply on the Truth. Those who, without the benefit
of actual spiritual experience devote themselves whole-heartedly to spiritual practice, faithfully
following the instructions of the Guru, are sure to succeed in realizing the Essential Self.
To overcome death means to discover your identity in the Essential Self that is unaffected by
any change anywhere, including the death of the physical body. It also means to be free from the
compulsion to reincarnate.
26. Know that whatever existence comes into being, animate or inanimate, occurs from the
union of the Field and the Knower.
Shakti and Shiva unite to bring the phenomenal world into existence. Knowing this, we can
know that identification with the physical world through a physical form enables experience
of the universe from a limited ego perspective. However, this also hides the true nature of the
Essential Self. It is only when the varied experiences of the phenomenal world not longer charm
that one seeks the Self whole-heartedly.
27. He sees [truly] who sees the Supreme Lord located equally in all beings, utterly
indestructible amidst utter destruction.
Consciousness in manifestation as the psycho-physical universe is always in flux, ever-changing.
In super-conscious vision the indestructible amidst the destructible is clearly perceived, like a
steady light shining and illuminating a whirling mass of particles that temporarily forms itself
into a physical body, lives a life for a while, then dissolves back into the Source. Consciousness
as Witness observes the dance, the swirling light show, unchanged amidst the changing, eternal
amidst the transitory.
The Supreme is equally present in all beings, no doubt, but as Ramakrishna pointed out the
manifestation of power is different in different beings. The dangerous animal is surely the Self,
but the person who warns you away from the danger is also the Self.
28. Seeing everywhere the Lord equally present, he attains the Supreme Goal who does not

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destroy the Self by the self.

We are to view all beings as manifestations of the divine, never thinking ourselves superior to
anyone. The difficult task is to tame the limited self-interest spawned of ahamkara and keep
our eyes on the ultimate Goal of life. The more we can develop a relationship with the divine,
practicing seeing the divine in all beings, the more ahamkara serves our spiritual goal.
The Self is indestructible, yet it gets seemingly destroyed when the lower self, focused only
on worldly interests, ignores the divine within and without. The hero who dedicates his life to
spiritual practice, making every act through mindfulness a sacred act, attains the highest.
29. He sees [truly] who sees that all actions entirely are being performed by Prakriti and
that the Self is not the Doer.
The Essential Self, Shiva, merely watches as Shakti, the Goddess, dances her dance of creation,
preservation, and destruction. The spiritual aspirant who understands that the Essential Self is
not affected by any actions, who realizes directly his identity as the Essential Self, experiences
directly freedom from the bondage of karma, action, and knows the peace of unfettered freedom.
One technique for detaching from the actions of Prakriti is to imagine the world as a movie.
Anything you can see, touch, smell, hear, or taste is part of the movie. Furthermore, anything you
can think, remember, or imagine is also part of the movie. Shakti-Prakriti is the substance and
cause of the movie of life. In meditation, watch the movie, being the Witness. Sensations and
thoughts flow through the mental movie screen. Notice how these arise spontaneously, as if from
an unseen place. This is Shakti-Prakriti in action. Know the Essential Self apart from all that, and
you know what is worth knowing in spiritual life.
30. When a person sees varieties of beings located in the One and emanating from that, that
person becomes Brahman.
Krishna describes here the state of realization in which all things are experienced as
manifestations of the One Consciousness, having there origin in That and resting in That alone.
This realization comes when the individual merges in the One Consciousness, becoming one
with Brahman.
In trans-egoic mystical states there are relative degrees of detachment from the body-mind
perspective. All of them include the clear perception that the Self is no more or less any one
body-mind than any other. Nevertheless, there remain remnants of identification with the
particular body-mind through which the realization occurs, otherwise there would be no memory
of the experience and no coming back to normal consciousness.

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Through Tantric ritual, a divine body is created through which one can return from full identity
with Brahman to observe and interact with the world. It is as if the deity is walking about
experiencing the world with divine vision. The divine eye clearly sees the world for what
it is, an ocean of Consciousness from which the forms of this world have arisen for a time.
Individual beings appear like swirling masses of particles generated and sustained by the Light of
Consciousness within them. Everything that makes an individual is seen as ever-changing, while
the Light remains unchanged.
31. This Supreme self is indestructible due to its being beginningless and without gunas;
Even located within the body, O Arjuna, it neither acts nor is tainted [by actions].
Arjuna had thrown down his bow at the outset of the Kurukshetra War, refusing to fight
kinsmen, despite circumstances that required him to act to restore righteousness. In our own lives
it may seem at times that we face unpleasant choices, and we become dejected and immobilized
with doubt and indecision. In these verses Krishna instructs Arjuna and us to view all actions as
originating in Shakti-Prakriti while identifying with the Essential Self. Krishna reminds Arjuna
that the Essential Self is indestructible, so all the killing that will occur and the results of those
actions do not touch the Essential Self.
Even short of the realization of this Truth merely remembering the indestructible Self and
cultivating that memory through daily practice can help us face lifes difficulties with more
courage and give us hope for the day when we will realize the Essential Self directly.
32. Just as the all-pervading akasha, ether, due to its subtlety is not tainted, so also the Self
everywhere located in the body is not tainted.
Krishna again mentions the subtlety of the Self that is not easily known, despite being present
in every experience, because it is so near to us. Whether we commit good or evil deeds, these
actions do not taint the Self, even though without the presence of the Self these actions would not
be possible.
Krishna directs us to seek the Self using the body as the starting point for understanding who and
what we are. However, we have to keep pushing our understanding ever deeper to ever subtler
layers of being to approach and then realize the Essential Self.
33. Just as the one Sun illuminates this whole world, so also the Dweller in the body
illuminates all bodies, O Arjuna.
In this verse Krishna uses the word Field to mean the body broadly defined as at the beginning

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of this chapter. The word Dweller in the body, kshetri in Sanskrit literally means one who
possesses the Field.
The Sun shines on all, good, wicked, and indifferent, equally, revealing everything without
judgement and without being affected by what is revealed. The Sun is the original source of all
energy and thus all life on earth. For these reasons the Sun is often used as a metaphor for the
Essential Self that exists equally in all beings, enlivening and animating everyone, yet it remains
untouched by the actions of beings.
34. They go to the Supreme, who thus know by the eye of Knowledge the difference
between the Field and the Knower and liberation from the elements and Prakriti.
The Supreme state in Tantra is what Ramakrishna called the vijnana state, the state of
extraordinary knowledge, in which a person, having merged in Brahman, reemerges and
experiences the world through the eye of Knowledge, seeing everything as a manifestation of the
one blissful Consciousness.
But to achieve this Supreme state, a person must first experience the distinction between the
Essential Self and the phenomenal world, dissolving the elements of the world into Prakriti,
the material cause, and dissolving that into pure Consciousness. In Tantra this process is often
described as the union of Shakti with Shiva, when Shakti, as Kundalini, rises from the root cakra
and merges with Shiva in the crown cakra. Along the way the Kundalini Shakti dissolves the five
elements in turn, earth, water, fire, air, ether, the senses that correspond to the elements, smell,
taste, sight, touch, and hearing, and the mental senses, mind, imagination, and memory into the
pure Consciousness that is Shiva.
When Kundalini descends, it is to vivify a newly created divine body through which to
experience the now-transformed world in the state of vijnana.