Upanishads · Mahā 5.124
॥
Devanāgarī
चितो रूपमिदं ब्रह्मन्क्षेत्रज्ञ इति कथ्यते वासनाः कल्पयन्सोऽपि यात्यहंकारतां पुनः
Transliteration (IAST)
cito rūpamidaṃ brahmankṣetrajña iti kathyate vāsanāḥ kalpayanso'pi yātyahaṃkāratāṃ punaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
चितः रूपम् इदम् ब्रह्मन्citaḥ rūpam idam brahmanthis form of consciousness, O brāhmaṇa; the said shape of awareness, O brāhmaṇa
क्षेत्र-ज्ञः इति कथ्यतेkṣetra-jñaḥ iti kathyateis called the knower of the field; is named the one who knows the field
वासनाः कल्पयन् सः अपिvāsanāḥ kalpayan saḥ apiand he too, fashioning vāsanās; and he as well, devising inclinations
याति अहङ्कारताम् पुनःyāti ahaṅkāratām punaḥcomes again to selfhood; arrives anew at self-sense
Translation
“This form of consciousness, O brāhmaṇa, is called the knower of the field; and he, fashioning vāsanās, comes in turn to selfhood.”
Version
7fd42cc0b4d4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The first step of the descent is named with a name from the Bhagavad-gītā: kṣetra-jña — “the knower of the field”.
There, in the thirteenth chapter, the body is called the field, and he who knows it, the knower of the field. And it is said that the Supreme Himself is the knower of the field in all bodies.
Here this name is given to the first form consciousness assumes on limiting itself.
Note the verb kalpayan — “fashioning, devising”. The knower of the field does not merely have vāsanās; he devises them — that is, he himself produces them.
And therefore yāti ahaṅkāratām — “he comes to selfhood”.
From the next verse runs the chain of descent: selfhood — reason — mind — senses — body. It is the order of Sāṅkhya, but told not as the world's architecture — as the history of one fall.