In plain words
desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate, sentience, and firmness—this, together with its modifications, is briefly called the kṣetra.
Word for word
Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate, sentience, fortitude: this kṣetra has been declared in brief together with its modifications.
इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतना धृतिःएतत् क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम्
Other commentaries
The commentators
▸Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam
अथ इदानीम् आत्मगुणा इति यानाचक्षते वैशेषिकाः तेपि क्षेत्रधर्मा एव न तु क्षेत्रज्ञस्य इत्याह भगवान् -
इच्छा, यज्जातीयं सुखहेतुमर्थम् उपलब्धवान् पूर्वम् , पुनः तज्जातीयमुपलभमानः तमादातुमिच्छति सुखहेतुरिति ; सा इयं इच्छा अन्तःकरणधर्मः ज्ञेयत्वात् क्षेत्रम् । तथा द्वेषः, यज्जातीयमर्थं दुःखहेतुत्वेन अनुभूतवान् , पुनः तज्जातीयमर्थमुपलभमानः तं द्वेष्टि ; सोऽयं द्वेषः ज्ञेयत्वात् क्षेत्रमेव । तथा सुखम् अनुकूलं प्रसन्नसत्त्वात्मकं ज्ञेयत्वात् क्षेत्रमेव । दुःखं प्रतिकूलात्मकम् ; ज्ञेयत्वात् तदपि क्षेत्रम् । सङ्घातः देहेन्द्रियाणां संहतिः । तस्यामभिव्यक्तान्तःकरणवृत्तिः, तप्त इव लोहपिण्डे अग्निः आत्मचैतन्याभासरसविद्धा चेतना ; सा च क्षेत्रं ज्ञेयत्वात् । धृतिः यया अवसादप्राप्तानि देहेन्द्रियाणि ध्रियन्ते ; सा च ज्ञेयत्वात् क्षेत्रम् । सर्वान्तःकरणधर्मोपलक्षणार्थम् इच्छादिग्रहणम् । यत उक्तमुपसंहरति — एतत् क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारं सह विकारेण महदादिना उदाहृतम् उक्तम् यस्य क्षेत्रभेदजातस्य संहतिः ‘इदं शरीरं क्षेत्रम्’(भ. गी. १३ । १) इति उक्तम् , तत् क्षेत्रं व्याख्यातं महाभूतादिभेदभिन्नं धृत्यन्तम् । ॥ ६ ॥
In plain words
Now, at this point: the things the Vaiśeṣikas name 'qualities of the Self' — even those belong to the field alone, not to the knower of the field. This is what the Blessed Lord says —
'Desire': you've tasted something pleasant before — it hardly matters exactly what — and now, meeting something of that same kind again, you find yourself wanting to reach for it, thinking, 'this will make me happy.' That wanting, that desire, is simply a movement of the mind — and because it can be watched, known, observed, it belongs to the field, not to you. In just the same way, 'aversion': you've felt something painful before, and meeting its kind again, you recoil, you hate it. That hatred too, because it can be observed, is nothing but the field. So too 'pleasure' — that agreeable, settled clarity of mind — is, because it can be known, simply the field. 'Pain' is the unsettled, unfavorable version of the same thing; because it too can be known, it is also the field. 'Aggregate' just means the coming-together of body and senses. And within that coming-together, the mind's visible activity — like fire glowing through a heated lump of iron — is what we call sentience: not consciousness itself, but the mind soaked through with its borrowed light. That too, being knowable, is the field. 'Firmness' is simply whatever holds body and senses up when they've slumped into exhaustion; that too, because it can be known, is the field. None of this list — desire and the rest — is meant to be exhaustive; it is only given to point toward every movement of the mind, whatever form it takes. And now that all this has been said, Śaṅkara draws it together: 'This field, in brief, along with everything it becomes — from the great principle on down — has been shown and stated. The whole gathered range of the field's distinctions, of which it was said earlier, 'this body is the field' (Bhagavad Gītā 13.1), has now been fully explained — spanning everything from the great elements all the way to firmness.'
Close to the Sanskrit
Now, at this point, those which the Vaiśeṣikas declare, saying 'qualities of the Self' — those too are properties of the field only, and not of the knower of the field: thus says the Blessed Lord —
'Desire': having previously experienced an object, of whatever kind, that is a cause of pleasure, when again perceiving an object of that same kind, one wishes to obtain it, [thinking] 'it is a cause of pleasure' — that, this desire, [being] an attribute of the inner organ, because it is knowable, [is] the field. Likewise 'aversion': having experienced an object, of whatever kind, as a cause of pain, when again perceiving an object of that same kind, one hates it; this aversion, because it is knowable, [is] the field indeed. Likewise 'pleasure' — favorable, consisting in a tranquil state of mind — because it is knowable, [is] the field indeed. 'Pain' consists in the unfavorable; because it is knowable, that too [is] the field. 'Aggregate' [is] the combination of body and senses. In that [aggregate], the manifest functioning of the inner organ — like fire heated in a lump of iron — [is] sentience, pervaded by the semblance of the Self's own consciousness; that too [is] the field, because it is knowable. 'Firmness' [is] that by which body and senses, when fallen into exhaustion, are sustained; that too, because it is knowable, [is] the field. The mention of desire and so on has the purpose of indicating all the attributes of the inner organ generally. Since this has been said, [Śaṅkara] now summarizes — 'This field, in brief, together with its modification, from the great [principle] onward, has been illustrated [and] stated; the combination of the class of divisions of the field, of which it was [earlier] stated, 'this body is the field' (Bhagavad Gītā 13.1) — that field has [now] been explained, differentiated by the divisions beginning with the great elements, ending with firmness.'