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 8
Verse 8
The Yoga of the Field and the Knower of the Field
Humility, absence of pride, non-violence, forbearance, simplicity, service to one's teacher, cleanliness, steadfastness, self-restraint—
Context & Meaning
Having described the field, Krishna now turns to describe knowledge — not as a body of propositions but as a set of qualities that constitute the knowing mind. True knowledge begins with humility (amānitva — the absence of the desire for honour), freedom from hypocrisy (adambhitva), non-violence (ahiṃsā), patience (kṣānti), straightforwardness (ārjava), service to one's teacher (ācāryopāsana), purity (śauca), steadiness (sthairya), and self-restraint (ātmavinigraha). These are not prerequisites to knowledge — they are themselves expressions of the orientation toward truth that constitutes real jñāna.
Scholar Commentaries
1 commentary · Public domainMadhvacharya
DvaitaThe list of qualities that constitute knowledge begins with amānitva — the absence of desire for honour. This is placed first because pride is the primary obstacle to genuine wisdom. The proud person seeks to know in order to be recognised as a knower; the truly wise person seeks to know in order to be free. The entire structure of this list flows from this first virtue.