Kshetra
Kshetra, “the field”
Kshetraja has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kshetraja. Kshetrajña has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kshetrajña.
Grammar: neuter noun: “field”.
Meaning: a field; and, in the teaching on the ātmā, the body with all that makes it up, which is known by the kshetrajña, the knower of the field.
In the scriptures: in his teaching on samādhi, Agnideva says that the organs of knowing, the manas, the organs of action, ahaṅkāra, buddhi, the five bhūtas (elements) and the avyakta (unmanifest) Prakṛti together are called the kshetra. One who knows their nature is the kshetrajña, the lord of all beings (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 376).
In the Gītā-sāra, Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Arjuna: “This body is named kshetra; the one who knows it is the kshetrajña. The knowledge of kshetra and kshetrajña is my knowledge.” The kshetra, in brief, with its modifications, is: the mahābhūtas (great elements), ahaṅkāra, buddhi, avyakta, the eleven indriyas, the five objects of the senses, icchā (desire), dvesha (aversion), sukha, duḥkha, the gross body, cetanā (awareness) and dhṛti (steadfastness) (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 381).
In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa: Jaḍabharata teaches King Rahūgaṇa: “Kshetra means the aggregate of body, senses and mind. The ātma-caitanya that knows it is the kshetrajña.” The modifications of the mind, of hundreds, thousands and crores of kinds, have existence and shining only because of the ātma-caitanya that looks on the kshetra as witness, not from any real union of ātmā and anātmā, nor of their own. Bhagavān Vāsudeva, beyond prakṛti, after creating this world entered all beings in the form of the ātma-caitanya that is witness to the kshetra, as Vāyu dwells in all beings as the power of prāṇa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 11).
On the road to Vraja, Akrūra thinks: “I am a messenger sent by Kaṃsa. Even so, Śrī Kṛshṇa, witness of all, will not think me an enemy. For he is the witness of the kshetra, and with an unchanging gaze he sees not only the movements of beings’ minds but also these actions of body and senses” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 38).
Related terms: Kshetrajña · Prakṛti · Avyakta · Ahaṅkāra · Buddhi · Indriya · Mahābhūta
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 376, 381
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 5, Chapter 11; Skandha 10, Chapter 38