Devanagari
क्षेत्रज्ञ एता मनसो विभूती-
र्जीवस्य मायारचितस्य नित्या: ।
आविर्हिता: क्वापि तिरोहिताश्च
शुद्धो विचष्टे ह्यविशुद्धकर्तु: ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
kṣetrajṣa etā manaso vibhūtīr
jīvasya māyā-racitasya nityāḥ
āvirhitāḥ kvāpi tirohitāś ca
śuddho vicaṣṭe hy aviśuddha-kartuḥ
Synonyms
kṣetra
—
jṣaḥ — the individual soul
;
etāḥ
—
all these
;
manasaḥ
—
of the mind
;
vibhūtīḥ
—
different activities
;
jīvasya
—
of the living entity
;
māyā
—
racitasya — created by the external, material energy
;
nityāḥ
—
from time immemorial
;
āvirhitāḥ
—
sometimes manifested
;
kvāpi
—
somewhere
;
tirohitāḥ ca
—
and not manifested
;
śuddhaḥ
—
purified
;
vicaṣṭe
—
sees this
;
hi
—
certainly
;
aviśuddha
—
unpurified
;
kartuḥ
—
of the doer .
Translation
The individual soul bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness has many ideas and activities created in the mind by the external energy. They have been existing from time immemorial. Sometimes they are manifest in the wakening state and in the dream state, but during deep sleep [unconsciousness] or trance, they disappear. A person who is liberated in this life [jīvan-mukta] can see all these things vividly.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The liberated jīva, free of saṁsāra, impartially sees the transformations of the covering on the jīva known as the mind, which performs actions opposed to the Lord and which is made of māyā. , These transformations are without beginning, sometimes visible and sometimes invisible.
The knower of the field is twofold: the Paramātmā and the jīva. The Paramātmā was mentioned in the previous verse and will be explained in the next verse. The jīva is of two types: conditioned and liberated. The conditioned jīva was describes as being embraced by the mind and thinking he is the body in verse 6. The liberated jīva is not embraced by the mind and has no false conception of his body. The conditioned jīva has been understood. What is the liberated jīva? The liberated jīva, knower of the field, knows (vicaṣṭe) the transformations of the mind, but does not identify with them and enjoy them. It is thus free of saṁsāra (śuddhaḥ), whereas the conditioned jīva is bound by saṁsāra. The mind is the covering on the jīva (jīvasya) because it is made of māyā and performs impure actions which are against recognition of the Lord. The transformations of the mind have been present with the jīva without beginning (nityāḥ). Why are they not visible at all times then? They are manifested during waking and dream state, and invisible during deep sleep and at the time if universal devastation.
Purport
As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(13.3)
,
kṣetra-jṣaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata.
There are two kinds of
kṣetrajṣa,
or living beings. One is the individual living being, and the other is the supreme living being. The ordinary living being knows about his body to some extent, but the Supreme, Paramātmā, knows the condition of all bodies. The individual living being is localized, and the Supreme, Paramātmā, is all-pervading. In this
śloka
the word
kṣetrajṣa
refers to an ordinary living being, not the supreme living being. This ordinary living being is of two kinds —
nitya-baddha
or
nitya-mukta.
One is eternally conditioned and the other eternally liberated. The eternally liberated living beings are in the Vaikuṇṭha
jagat,
the spiritual world, and they never fall into the material world. Those in the material world are conditioned souls,
nitya-baddha.
The
nitya-baddhas
can become liberated by controlling the mind because the cause of conditioned life is the mind. When the mind is trained and the soul is not under the mind’s control, the soul can be liberated even in this material world. When it is liberated, one is called
jīvan-mukta.
A
jīvan-mukta
knows how he has become conditioned; therefore he tries to purify himself and return home, back to Godhead. The eternally conditioned soul is eternally conditioned because he is controlled by the mind. The conditioned state and liberated state are compared to the sleeping, unconscious state and the awakened state. Those who are sleeping and unconscious are eternally conditioned, but those who are awake understand that they are eternally part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore even in this material world, they engage in Kṛṣṇa’s service. As confirmed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:
īhā yasya harer dāsye.
If one takes to Kṛṣṇa’s service, he is liberated, even though he appears to be a conditioned soul within the material world.
Jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate.
In any condition, one is to be considered liberated if his only business is to serve Kṛṣṇa.