Cluster 0458 — BG-13.2 (Universal-Kṣetrajña Identification + Lord's-Own Jñāna-Definition)

Sanskrit

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत । क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ञानं मतं मम ॥२॥

Translation

KNOW Me-also as the KṢETRA-JÑA (FIELD-KNOWER) in ALL FIELDS, O Bhārata. The KNOWING of both kṣetra-and-kṣetrajña — THAT is what-I-consider TRUE-JÑĀNA.

Marathi Ovis

13.8 — तरि क्षेत्रज्ञु जो एथें । तो मीचि जाण निरुतें । जो सर्व क्षेत्रांतें । संगोपोनि असे ॥८॥ "The KṢETRA-JÑA HERE — KNOW-CERTAINLY He is ME — the ONE who HOLDS-CONCEALED ALL FIELDS."

13.9 — क्षेत्र आणि क्षेत्रज्ञातें । जाणणें जें निरुतें । ज्ञान ऐसें तयातें । मानूं आम्ही ॥९॥ "KṢETRA AND KṢETRA-JÑA — the CERTAIN KNOWING — WE consider THAT JÑĀNA."

Function

BG-13.2 is the precise iconic FOUNDATIONAL-IDENTIFICATION sloka of adhyāya-13 (KṢETRA-KṢETRAJÑA-VIBHĀGA-YOGA). The verse closes the kṣetra-kṣetrajña-introductory pair opened by BG-13.1's six-term Arjuna-question (prakṛti + puruṣa + kṣetra + kṣetrajña + jñāna + jñeya) at cluster 0457. The 0457 → 0458 sequence is the precise iconic ARJUNA's-QUESTION → KṚṢṆA's-FOUNDATIONAL-ANSWER structure that opens the chapter.

The verse delivers two precise iconic doctrinal moves:

(1) UNIVERSAL-KṢETRAJÑA-IDENTIFICATION — kṣetra-jñam cāpi mām viddhi sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata — KNOW Me-also as KṢETRA-JÑA in ALL FIELDS, O Bhārata. The Lord identifies AS the KṢETRA-JÑA in every field — the precise iconic UNIVERSAL-WITNESS doctrine that locates the singular cosmic-knower behind every individual-knower. This is the BG's foundational Advaita-source pronouncement: behind every embodied knower stands the one Lord-knower. Śankara reads it as the locus classicus for the jīvātmā-paramātmaikya doctrine; Rāmānuja reads it as the antar-yāmin-doctrine (the Lord as INNER-CONTROLLER of all beings); the Vārkari tradition reads it as the precise iconic ALL-FIELDS-VIṬHṬHAL pronouncement.

(2) LORD's-OWN AUTHORITATIVE JÑĀNA-DEFINITION — kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānam yat tat jñānam matam mama — the KNOWING of both kṣetra-and-kṣetrajña — THAT is what-I-consider TRUE-JÑĀNA. The Lord's voice closes with matam mama (THIS-IS-MY-VERDICT) — the precise iconic AUTHORITATIVE-SELF-CERTIFICATION register. True jñāna is the COMBINED discriminative knowing of both FIELD (the embodied-prakṛti-complex) and FIELD-KNOWER (the witness-puruṣa) — the precise iconic 2-FOLD-VIVEKA-JÑĀNA that founds the entire third-hexad tattva-vivekā exposition.

Jñāneśvar's Treatment

Jñāneśvar's 2-ovi rendering (13.8-13.9) is the TIGHTEST possible — purely faithful Sanskrit-paraphrase plus one iconic Marathi pedagogical elevation. Ovi 13.8 delivers the UNIVERSAL-KṢETRAJÑA-IDENTIFICATION via the precise iconic tō mīci jāṇa nirutēm (KNOW-CERTAINLY He is ME) and adds the iconic jō sarva kṣetrāntēm — sangōpōni asē (the ONE who HOLDS-CONCEALED ALL-FIELDS). The sangōpōni verb is the single iconic Marathi elevation — rendering the Sanskrit locative sarva-kṣetreṣu (IN-ALL-FIELDS) as ACTIVE-CONCEALED-CONTAINMENT: the Lord both PERVADES and CONCEALS-HIMSELF-WITHIN every field. This pedagogical elevation extends the static locative-of-pervasion into an active doctrine of the Lord-as-CONCEALED-CONTAINER.

Ovi 13.9 holds even tighter — delivering the JÑĀNA-DEFINITION purely Sanskrit-faithfully: kṣētra āṇi kṣētrajñātēm — jāṇaṇēm jēm nirutēm — jñāna aisēm tayātēm — mānūm āmhī (KṢETRA AND KṢETRAJÑA — the CERTAIN KNOWING — WE consider THAT JÑĀNA). The closing mānūm āmhī (WE consider) renders matam mama using the royal-plural honorific — preserving the Lord's authoritative-self-certifying voice.

Arc-position

Cluster 0458 founds the entire adhyāya-13 architecture. The chapter then unfolds: BG-13.3-6 = KṢETRA-DETAIL-ENUMERATION; BG-13.7-11 = JÑĀNA-DEFINITION-as-20+-VIRTUES; BG-13.12-17 = JÑEYA-BRAHMAN-DESCRIPTION (with iconic sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādam + jyotiṣām api taj jyotis); BG-13.18 = JÑĀNA-JÑEYA-JÑĀTĀ-SUMMARY; BG-13.19-23 = PRAKṚTI-PURUṢA exposition; BG-13.24-25 = MEDITATIVE-INSTRUCTIONS; BG-13.26-34 = doctrinal-elaboration closing with the iconic kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor evam antaram jñāna-cakṣuṣā (BG-13.34) viveka-charter. The chapter opens the third hexad of the Gītā's 18-chapter architecture (chapters 13-18 forming the tattva-vivekā jñāna-block) — and BG-13.2 is the precise iconic FOUNDATIONAL-IDENTIFICATION pronouncement without which the entire third-hexad exposition would be groundless.

The cluster's Vārkari resonance: Tukārām's iconic sarvām ṭhāyīm tūm ci sarva hī jālāsī — dujē navhē (1823) and the ADVAITA-THEFT-PARADOX (1834) descend doctrinally from this BG-13.2 UNIVERSAL-KṢETRAJÑA source — the precise iconic Vārkari sarva-ṭhāyīm-tūm-ci doctrine has its scriptural foundation here.