Lord Krishna
Divine TeacherThe Supreme Lord, the charioteer and divine guide of Arjuna. Krishna delivers the eternal wisdom of the Gita, revealing the nature of the soul, duty, and the path to liberation.
Speaking: Chapter 13, Verse 18
Verse 18
Hard VerseThe Yoga of the Field and the Knower of the Field
It is the light of all lights, said to be beyond darkness. It is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and that which is to be attained through knowledge. It is seated in the hearts of all.
Context & Meaning
The supreme description of Brahman culminates here: it is the light of all lights (jyotiṣām api taj jyotiḥ), beyond all darkness — meaning it is the consciousness that illuminates all other illuminators, including the sun and stars. It is simultaneously jñāna (the knowing faculty), jñeya (the object of knowing), and jñānagamya (the goal that is reached through knowing). Subject, object, and path collapse into one. And this same infinite reality is seated in the heart of every living being — hṛdi sarvasya. The infinite is the intimate. The cosmic is the personal.
Scholar Commentaries
2 commentaries · Public domainAdi Shankaracharya
AdvaitaJyotiṣām api taj jyotiḥ — the light of all lights. The sun gives light to physical objects, but what gives light to the sun? The consciousness that knows the sun. That consciousness — the ultimate witness — is Brahman. It is prior to every form of illumination because it is the very capacity for knowing on which all other knowing depends.
Ramanujacharya
VishishtadvaitaHṛdi sarvasya viṣṭhitam — seated in the hearts of all. After the grand cosmic descriptions, this intimate detail is the most important. The infinite Brahman is not distant; it dwells in the heart of every creature. Devotional realization consists in recognising this intimate presence — that what one seeks is already where one is.