At the start of the thirteenth chapter (13.01), Arjuna asks about six specific terms that Krishna hasn’t referred to as a group anywhere earlier. To understand where this question comes from, we need to understand the Gita’s broader structure. 

The core of the Gita, apart from its first chapter that describes its context, is a discussion between Krishna and Arjuna. It begins with a broad question by Arjuna (02.07), whose answer by Krishna covers the Gita’s entire narrative. Here, the Gita is driven by Krishna’s train of thought, which is intermittently interrupted with Arjuna’s pertinent questions,which arise primarily from what Krishna has just spoken. This pattern continues till the Gita’s tenth chapter, where Krishna speaks four verses which have come to be celebrated as the Chatur-Shloki Gita (the Gita’s four-verse essence: 10.08-11). Then Arjuna echoes Krishna’s words, accepting them wholeheartedly (10.12-15). Given Arjuna’s acceptance, Krishna’s discourse can, in one sense, be said to have ended here. 

From this point onward, the Gita might be better understood as a question-answer session at the end of the discourse. It is driven by Arjuna’s questions, which range over various topics. Most of Arjuna’s questions are related to Krishna’s words in the Gita’s preceding sections. But a few of Arjuna’s questions don’t arise from the Gita’s context; they are based on themes Arjuna has heard earlier in his life, themes that he wants to understand in the light of the Gita. Arjuna’s questions in the thirteenth chapter fall in this latter category. Here, he wants to know about the system of sankhya, within which these terms are common, and about how that system fits into Krishna’s teachings in the Gita. 

One-sentence summary: 

Arjuna’s questions arise sometimes from what Krishna has spoken earlier and sometimes from what he has learnt earlier in his life, which he wants to understand in the light of Krishna’s teachings. 

Think it over:

  • What drives the Gita’s narrative till the Chatur-Shloki?
  • What drives the Gita’s narrative after the Chatur-Shloki?
  • What is the reason for Arjuna’s questions at the start of the thirteenth chapter?

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13.01: Arjuna said: O my dear Krishna, I wish to know about prakriti [nature], purusha [the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge.

To know more about this verse, please click on the image