Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (the body), intelligence, fortitude the field has thus been briefly described with its modifications.
In simple words
Krishna continues listing: "Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the physical body, awareness, and willpower — all of this together, with all its changes, is what is called 'the field.'"
Word-by-word meanings
इच्छाdesireद्वेषःhatredसुखम्pleasureदुःखम्painसङ्घातःthe aggregateचेतनाintelligenceधृतिःfortitudeएतत्thisक्षेत्रम्fieldसमासेनbrieflyसविकारम्with modificationsउदाहृतम्has been described
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
13.7 इच्छा desire? द्वेषः hatred? सुखम् pleasure? दुःखम् pain? सङ्घातः the aggregate? चेतना intelligence? धृतिः fortitude? एतत् this? क्षेत्रम् field? समासेन briefly? सविकारम् with modifications? उदाहृतम् has been described.Commentary These principles form the frame or the skelteton on which the world of forms is built. All these are mental states and treated as properties of the body by the Sankhya school of thought. According to the NyayaYaiseshika schools? these are the inherent alities of the Self. The modifications have a beginning and an end. Only that which is unchanging can be the witness of these modifications. The knower of the field is unchanging. He is the witness of the field and its modifications.Desire is a modification of the mind. It is an earnest longing for an object. It is a Vritti (thoughtwave) born of Rajas which urges a man who has once experienced a certain object of pleasure to get hold of it as conducive to his pleasure when he beholds the same object again. This is the property of the inner sense. It is the field because it is knowable.You enjoy a certain sensual object. The impression of this is produced in the subconscious mind. This impression is vivified or revived through memory or remembrance of the sensual pleasure. Then desire arises to enjoy the object again. Repetition of the sensual enjoyment intensifies the memory and desire. Renunciation of the objects and meditation thin out the impressions and the desires.If anyone gives a description of the beautiful scenery of Badri Narayana or Mount Kailasa at once a desire arises in our minds to vist those places. If a man says that very good sweetmeats and mangoes are available in Bangalore? a desire to get these objects crops up in your mind. Therefore memory of sensual enjoyments and the hearing of the alities of the sensual objects are the root causes of desires. Hope fattens the desires. Hope gives a new lease of life to desires. Desire excites the mind and the senses. Desire makes the mind restless. Desire makes the mind wander in the sensual grooves.An object which is sweet and pleasant to you at one moment produces the very reverse of that sensation at another moment. Everyone of you might have had this experience. Objects are pleasant only when there is a longing for them. But they are unpleasant when there is no longing for them. Therefore desires are the cause of pleasure. If satisfaction arises through enjoyment of the objects? pleasure will cease. If your mind is destitute of desires then you will always enjoy serenity? eanimity? balance or poise in spite of many obstalces or adversities. The foundation of desire is the love of sensual pleasures. Desires run along the path of your inclination? proclivity or tendency or taste. Desire is the fuel. Thought is the fire. If you withdraw the fuel of desire? the fire of thought will be extinguished like an oilless lamp. The intellect becomes impure by association with desires.Hatred is a modification of the mind. It is a negative one. It is a Vritti that impels a man who,experienced pain from a certain object to dislike it when he beholds the same object again. Hatred also is field because it is knowable. The modification that arises in the mind when your desire is not fulfilled is called hatred.Pleasure is agreeable? peaceful? made of Sattva. This is also the field because it is knowable.Pain is disagreeable or unpleasant. It is also the field because it is knowable.Sanghata Aggregate? the combination of the body and the senses or the bundle of the 35 components of the body.Chetana Intelligence is a mental state which manifests itself in the aggregate just as fire manifests itself in a ball of iron. This is also the field because it is knowable. Chetana means consciousness and also the activity of the vital airs.Dhriti Firmness? courage? fortitude. It is a Sattvic modification of the mind. The body? the senses and the mind are sustained by firmness when they are depressed and agitated. The five elements are antagonistic to each other. Water destroys earth. Fire dries up water. Water puts out fire. Wind puts out a lamp (fire). Ether absorbs the wind. The five elements fight amongst themselves and yet they (that have a natural dislike for one another) dwell together ite amicably in the same body. Each element beautifully cooperates with the others in carrying on the common functions of the body harmoniously. Each element nourishes the other elements also with its own alities. Dhriti is firmness or the power by which these fighting elements are held in union and harmony and kept in a state of steadiness and balance. This is also the field because it is knowable.Desire and the other alities that are spoken of in this verse stand for all the alities of the mind. The field that is mentioned in the first verse has been dealth with in all its different forms in the fifth and the sixth verses.
Swami Chinmayananda
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
Now begins the principal subject, which the Lord had previously indicated simply as "this body." Here the elements of that field are enumerated by name.
**The Five Great Elements:** Ether, air, fire, water, and earth—these are the five great elements. In their subtle form, these elements are called tanmatras. From the mutual combination of these tanmatras arise the five gross great elements, which are here referred to as the five objects of the senses.
**Ego:** When consciousness identifies itself with limiting conditions, the sense of "I" or ego arises. Through these limiting conditions, it becomes the doer of actions and the experiencer of their fruits. All the pleasures and pains of the world exist for this ego.
**Intellect:** Here, from the collective perspective, the word intellect is used—what the Sankhya philosophy calls the mahat-tattva, or principle of cosmic intelligence. The intellect is that faculty of the inner instrument which determines and decides. Its function is to discern the true nature of things and to distinguish between the auspicious and inauspicious in our experiences.
**The Unmanifest:** The unmanifest vasanas—latent desires and impressions—are that which impels the human mind and intellect. From the actions we perform and the fruits we experience in the world, impressions form in our mind, which direct our future actions, thoughts, and feelings.
The vasanas of an individual being are the source of all their actions. Therefore, it is natural that from the collective perspective, the vasanas of the cosmic whole should be the source of all creation, both moving and stationary. This collective vasana is called Prakriti (primordial nature) in Sankhya philosophy, and Maya in Vedanta. The Supreme Self, qualified by the condition of Maya or primordial nature, becomes Ishvara, the creator; and that same Supreme Self, qualified by the condition of individual vasana (avidya or ignorance), becomes the individual soul.
From this analysis, it becomes clear that the unmanifest is that unseen cause from which this visible world has manifested as an effect.
**The Ten Senses:** The five senses of knowledge and the five senses of action are the instruments through which each person successively perceives objects and expresses their responses.
**The Mind (One):** In the context of this teaching, the word "one" refers to the mind. Each sense of knowledge perceives only one object. The mind, connected to all five senses, collects all sensory perceptions and presents them before the intellect for decision. It then executes that decision through the five senses of action. Thus, both the perception of objects and the expression of response are functions of the one mind, which is why it is indicated here by the word "one."
**The Five Objects of Sense:** These are the five objects perceived by the five senses of knowledge—sound, touch, form, taste, and smell. These constitute the entire world.
Thus, this verse enumerates the twenty-four principles celebrated in Sankhya philosophy.
After describing the elements of the field, the Lord speaks of their modifications: desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the gross body, the functions of the inner instrument, and steadfastness or fortitude. In brief, the field consists not merely of the body, senses, mind, and intellect, but also includes the objects experienced through these conditions, as well as the feelings and thoughts arising from them.
Whatever is other than the witness is the seen—it is the field. From the perspective of this witnessing consciousness, whatever is seen, known, and experienced is the field. The Gita indicates this entire field by the simple phrase "this body."
The consciousness that illuminates this entire field is called the knower of the field. In the state of ignorance, the individual soul mistakes the field—the body and so forth—for its own true nature, identifying itself as the knower of the field. Therefore, to awaken it to its pure nature as the Self, it is first necessary to cultivate discrimination between the inert and the conscious. This is why the field is described here in such detail.
In the next five verses, knowledge is described. As mentioned before, by the word "knowledge" here is meant that inner instrument which is endowed with the qualities necessary for Self-knowledge; for only through a purified inner instrument is the experience of the Self possible. Therefore, the Lord Sri Krishna now describes twenty qualities, which are the principles of right conduct and moral discipline.
These qualities are: