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Thread: Kshetra - Kshetrajnya (who am I)

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    Kshetra - Kshetrajnya (who am I)

    Namaskaram all,

    In my spiritual journey, I have begun studying Vedanta and have watched various lectures and read stuff in the process. This has expectedly lead to questions about myself and I am trying to clarify what I understand and do not. If I am asking the questions that have been answered before, it may be because this is a subjective topic and please bear with me.

    So, I have begun reading the Sri Sankaracharya’s Adhyasa Bhjasya (mostly English translations) and have watched many lectures from various swamis on this topic. I have gone through the first major step in understanding that I am confused. Through the process of understanding the Avastha’s (Jagrut, Swapna, Sushupti) and the underlying state of Turiya. Through real life subjective experiences Sri Sankaracharya has convinced me that I am not who I think I am and it’s the innermost Parmatma that is me.

    The fact that I am confused is due to Avidya (ignorance).
    The next part for me, is to understand who has to understand this and how. This is where I get confused (even if I look at it subjectively). Hence I wish to keep an objective approach for the discussion (just like trying to explain it to someone else). So, I will list what I understand and please correct me or help me understand this concept.

    Atma Sharira Kosha
    -----------------------------------------------------
    Parmatma None None
    Bound soul Karana (Causal) Anandamaya (Causal)
    Sukshma (Subtle) Vijnyanamaya (Cognition)
    Manomaya (Mind) Pranamaya
    Sthula (Gross) Anandamaya

    In the above table, as per my understanding…

    1. The atma gets moksha when it sheds all the koshas.
    2. We are using the Sukshma sarira (atleast the mind and intellect) to understand this concept.

    The confusion/question is this. (Kshetra - Kshetrajnya)
    a. Is the Sukshma sarira supposed to realize this and understand “This is not I”? This itself is confusing.
    b. The Parmatma (who is all knowing) does not need to know anything.
    c. If and when the sukshma sarira is dropped what will happen to the knowledge that it has gained?

  2. #2

    Re: Kshetra - Kshetrajnya (who am I)

    Jayeji Obeisances,

    My background/formal training comes from the Gaudiya line as I am a westerner and it was my first exposure to God Realization. Now my focus on the study of Vedanta is more from the writings of Adi Shankara & the Ramakrishna Math. I prefer the style of purports which present arguments and counter arguments.. But I am new to it and the material can be dense at times so please forgive me for any errors in interpretation.


    If I'm understanding this right, your question pertains mostly to the following bolded: BG 13.4: Now please hear My brief description of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, whence it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are.

    In my understanding Bhagavan Sri Krishna took birth as son of Nanda Maharaja, who was a vaisha, an agriculturalist.. So He naturally uses metaphors related to farming, the tilling of the soil etc.
    In the case of the Kshetra/Kshetrajnana, the Kshetra is one's field of activities.
    That's why in the very beginning the verse 'Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra' establishes that you will hear about the field of activities related to Dharma and also the field of activities related to the Kurus.

    But our Kshetra, our field of activities is largely this body, gross and subtle.

    Your Kshetra is what you have gained by material nature according to your Karma, and anything you affect that is not transcendental to the modes is part of your Kshetra. Like BG 13.6-7 states .. so many qualities of the field. All these elements pertain to one's own material circumstance and have nothing really to do with the pure Self.
    But that same 'mundane' Kshetra, when used in selfless service or Yoga then becomes the vehicle through which one attains the Supreme. The metaphor established is thus, by planting the seed of [Yoga] in the field of [what the individual can affect], this yields Self Knowledge.

    The Paramatma is that pure Self. Don't forget that that same Krishna who is speaking the Gita is the Self of all living beings, He is all-pervading consciousness. It is Brahman speaking to Atman, saying please remember Me and attain to My nature.
    What you're asking in B.) I think is answered here by Shankaracharya:
    “the Knower of the field is God Himself and not a mundane being,”

    Just as blindness of the eyes does not pertain to the perceiver since on being curved through treatment it is not seen in the perceiver, similarly notions like non-perception, false perception, doubt, and their causes should, in all cases, pertain to some organ; not to the perceiver, the Knower of the field. And since they are objects of perception, they are not qualities of the Knower in the same way that light is of a lamp. Just because they are objects of perception, they are cognized as different from one’s own Self.
    If they (the defects) be the qualities of the Self Itself, the Knower of the field, as heat is of fire, then there can never be a dissociation from them. Again, since there can be no association with or dissociation from anything for the immutable, formless Self which is all-pervading like space, therefore it is established that the Knower of the field is ever identical with God.

    The qualities Krishna describes as the field are like these 'defects'. I mean, you hit the nail on the head, that immutable all-pervading Self has nothing to realize. But us as Jiva, the individual soul, we have to uncover . What happens to the knowledge once this occurs? Brahman is sat-cit-ananda, eternal, blissful, and full of knowledge. Our Atman is drop in that ocean of Consciousness. Once God Realization is attained, it becomes indistinguishable from the rest of the ocean.

    Thank you for asking this because it gave me a chance for a deep reading and hopefully furthers my devotion to the Lord. I'm sure others here have more experience in the topic and could give better insight. But overall if you don't mind the suggestion / me presuming too much but the way you present the terms it's as though you are just recently becoming familiar with them?

    If that's the case, I would say save the Moksha for the Sannyasa Ashram. Do your Dharma in the ashram/stage of life you're in now, and preform your sadhana prescribed to you by your Guru. Develop an unceasing desire to serve your Guru and you will surely attain the knowledge & experience you're after.

    Pranams

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    Re: Kshetra - Kshetrajnya (who am I)

    Quote Originally Posted by jayeshgk
    Sri Sankaracharya has convinced me that I am not who I think I am and it’s the innermost Parmatma that is me.
    You've understood Advaita perfectly. The supreme truth is that you are not 'You' & I am not 'I'.

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