Now hear from Me briefly about what the field is, its nature, its transformations, where it comes from, who the knower of the field is, and what his powers are.

Having established the two fundamental categories — field and knower — Krishna now offers to describe them systematically. He will cover the field's nature, its modifications, its source, and the knower's identity and power. This verse is a roadmap for the teaching that follows. It is notable that Krishna promises to speak "briefly" — yet what follows is one of the most comprehensive philosophical analyses in Indian literature, touching Sankhya metaphysics, epistemology, and Vedantic ontology.