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The Knower in the Field By Sushil Soni © Lord Krishna says in thed Bhagwad Gita: This body, Arjun, is termed as the Field and he who knows it, is called the Knower of the Field by the sages discerning the truth about both. Know Myself to be the Knower of the Field in all the Fields, Arjun. And it is the knowledge of the Field and Knower which I consider as true knowledge. (XIII, 1-2) There is a popular Vedantic story which goes like this. On their journey, ten men came to a river. They swam across. Upon reaching the other side of the river, they counted to ensure that no one was missing. Each time they counted, the answer came to nine. Believing that one of them had drowned, they began to weep. At that time a sage was passing by. He met them and asked them why they were lamenting. They said that one of them had drowned while they were crossing the river. They were ten then, now they are nine. Then the sage asked them to stand in a line. He counted them, tapping each on the shoulder with his stick. Finally, he tapped the last man and announced that they were all ten in number. Rejoicing, the men thanked the sage and went about their journey. What is the point of telling this story? It is in that each man had forgotten to count himself. And the sage happened to meet them to remind each one of his own self. But do we really forget our own self? We do, in all circumstances. In fact, we are only remembering about ourselves by identifying with our bodies, our likes, dislikes, desires, preferences and needs. However, what the sage is reminding us is that we ignore the real self that we are – we are not realizing the knowledge of the true self. For the Vedantist, the Self is not something which is remote, unattainable, or even an object. It is here and now. Yajnavalkya tells King Janaka that the individual self when born attains a body as well as acquires its attributes. Then it resides in two abodes: in the present life consisting of body, organs, objects, impressions and experiences; and the second one which is yet to be experienced and which it does after giving up this body. So long as this self, which is eternally conscious, resides in this body, the body is said to have life and experiences. While this self may have a certain place in the body where it resides, but because of its quality of intelligence, it pervades the whole body. Yajnavalkya tells King Janaka that this self is the infinite entity that is identified with the intellect, while remaining within the body. Shankaracharya explains that intellect is that which is illumined and the light of the self is that which is illumined, meaning that through the similarity of intellect, the self assumes the likeness of everything. Yajnavalkya states that there is another abode other than the two from where the individual self sees the two abodes, and this junction is called the dream state. When the individual self realizes that all these abodes are myself, who am in all, then it assumes its true form by transcending all these forms. This self then moves to a higher state, beyond the body, beyond the desires, beyond the experiences and impressions, and remains in a state which is devoid of limitations, which is beyond intellect, eternal, infinite. This is the state which is self-luminous, supreme and pure Bliss. However, while there can be no knowledge in the absence of the body, there can be no liberation in the presence of the body. Therefore, the presence of the self in the body is essential for the attainment of liberation. So, this body, this Kshetra, this Field, is the springboard for jumping into the higher dimension, the realm of Eternal Light. Once freed from relative existence, man regains his real nature and now is no longer different from Brahman. “This Supreme Brahman,” Lord Krishna explains, “who is the lord of beginningless entities, is neither sat not asat…Though perceiving all sense-objects, it is devoid of all senses. Though unattached, it is the sustainer of all nonetheless; and though attributeless, it is the enjoyer of gunas, the three modes of Prakriti.” (XIII, 12-14). The problem comes when we tend to forget this self because our lives are spent in identifying with what we like and dislike, in identifying with the external material objects because that is what we see. Self cannot be an object to be identified. Anything that the self observes cannot be the self, which means that it is the witness also. In Brihadarankaya Upanishad it is said: “This self is the Lord of all beings; as all spokes are knit together in the hub, all things, all gods, all men, all lives, all bodies, are knit together in that self.” Human bodies and other things in space are made of the gross elements but things that are in the mind are subtle. To be a witness of them all, is of a different order. It is the self that does this task. And to know that self indeed is a revelation. But who wants to know? Neither the witness nor the self because the questions are only arisen by the ego. And this ego identifies itself with this body. According to Sigmund Freud, ego is the executive function of personality. The Sanskrit word ahamkara means “I am the doer” or “I as an executive function”. But Brahman does nothing. It witnesses, it observes, it is the source of all. Yet, it does nothing. Actions only take place in maya, which is the dream of Brahman. People think that they are doing actions, that they are the causes of events like happiness, tragedy, growth and movements. But Vedanta says that all this is false. All these are mental concepts only which is known when the individual being is awake. The objects and the play of senses come alive when one is wide awake. What happens to them when one is in deep sleep? In that state, since there is also a loss of ego, such actions do not take place, as there is no identification with external objects. When such a stage is achieved, especially when there is a loss of ego, the true self is found shining by itself. A master knows that the ego is unreal and goes about living in the world, continuing to act. The only difference is that he, a Realized One, knows that he is not doing anything, but only witnessing what he does. His actions are movements in nature, events in the Field even as he observes the Field. The man with ego is reminded by this lower knowledge saying that “I do”. However, a Realised One, which is not the abode of ego, but the illumined self, has this higher knowledge reminding him of “I do nothing at all.” When Lord Krishna says that “it is the knowledge of the Field and Knower which I consider as true knowledge,” He is saying that there are two kinds of knowledge. The lower knowledge is simply to know the field and the higher knowledge is to know the knower of the field. Katha Upanishad has a striking passage in this regard: “The self-existent Lord destroyed the outgoing senses. Therefore, one sees the outer things and not the inner self. Now and again, a daring soul, a rare discriminating man, desiring immortality, has looked back and found himself.” Here, “found himself” means knowing the knower of the field. Now, if the higher knowledge is to know the knower, then who is he who knows the knower? Vedantist say that here the knower of the Field cannot be an an object. In fact, he is the ultimate subject. So, he cannot be known. Higher knowledge does not mean becoming aware of an object. That only happens with empirical knowledge. This higher knowledge or self-knowledge is not an act recognizing something external but a realization of the knower because as Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states that the knower’s function of knowing can never be lost. Self-knowledge does not have an object of knowing. Brahman cannot be an object of knowledge in the ordinary sense since it surpasses the intellect in subtleness. Therefore, intellectual reasoning too is insufficient in the matter of its understanding or in its proof through testimony. According to Linga Purana, since It encompasses all, absorbs and enjoys the external objects or the objects of the world, and since from It alone the world draws its continuous existence, therefore, It is called atman. This indwelling Self, which is one’s own reality, having closed the eyes and turned away from all sense-objects sees Itself. In this context, Yama explains to Nachiketa that “His form does not exist within the range of vision; nobody sees Him with the eye. When this Self is revealed through deliberation, It is realized by the intellect, the ruler of the mind that resides in the heart.” It is the intellect that dissuades the mind from its occupations with the external objects. According to Upanishads, Brahman or Self is identified only through deliberation. Only then, when the intellect becomes pure, and mind and heart are unoccupied with objects, arises a simple conviction: aham brahmasmi. Such a one sees the indwelling Self in this way alone because the same person cannot engage himself in the sense-objects and to have wisdom of the Self at the same time. Having reached this stage of true knowledge, the Realised One then shines with his own illumination. Indeed, at the peak of spiritual experience, the person sees his own form in a flood of supreme light arising from within, which actually constitutes the realization of Brahman, the immortal atman. The true state of perfection is the state of illumination. It is the light which is present in the universe but which does not illuminate objects. Chandogya Upanishad says: "They (i.e. the knowers of Brahman) see everywhere the Supreme Light, which shines in Brahman, which is all-pervading like the light of day and which belongs to the primeval Seed. Perceiving the higher light in the sun—which is above the darkness of ignorance—as the higher light in the heart, perceiving the Supreme Light which is higher than all lights, we have reached the Highest Light, the Sun, the most luminous among the gods, yes, we have reached the Highest Light, the Sun, the most luminous among the gods." That this light which shines beyond this heaven, beyond the whole creation, beyond everything, in the highest worlds which are unsurpassingly good, is certainly this which is the light within the person and that the Purusha is greater than that and that the Immortal is established in His Own Effulgence. Lord Krishna says: “That supreme Brahman is said to be the light of all lights and entirely beyond maya. That is knowledge itself, worth knowing, and worth attaining through real wisdom, and is particularly abiding in the heart of all (Bhagwad Gita, XIII,17). Having realized THAT, the men of enlightenment do not pray for anything else. HARI OM.
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