Gita 13.23
Kshetra Kshetragna Vibhaga Yoga
य एवं वेत्ति पुरुषं प्रकृतिं च गुणैः सह | सर्वथा वर्तमानोऽपि न स भूयोऽभिजायते ||२३||
ya evaṁ vetti puruṣaṁ prakṛtiṁ ca guṇaiḥ saha | sarvathā vartamāno 'pi na sa bhūyo 'bhijāyate ||23||
In essence: One who truly knows purusha and prakriti is never reborn, regardless of how they live.
A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply
Sadhak-Guru Dialogue
Sadhak: "This seems too easy. Just 'know' and you're free? What about discipline, practice, renunciation?"
Guru: "The knowing is not easy—it's the hardest thing. Discipline, practice, and renunciation are means to purify the mind so that knowing can dawn. But they are not the goal themselves. A purified mind can recognize truth; an impure mind remains confused. Yet once recognition happens, whether it took one lifetime or a hundred of practice, the liberation is immediate. The practices build readiness; the knowing liberates."
Sadhak: "But 'however they may be living'—doesn't that permit license? Can a knower do anything they want?"
Guru: "The question itself reveals non-knowing. When you truly know your nature as pure consciousness, what is there to 'want'? The wanting was prakriti's quality, identified with by ignorance. A knower has no compulsion toward action or inaction. They may live simply or abundantly, but without attachment. The 'freedom to do anything' is not license—it's the absence of need to do anything. Whatever happens through the body is prakriti functioning; the knower just watches."
Sadhak: "How would I know if I truly 'know' or if I'm just intellectually convinced?"
Guru: "True knowing is self-evident and irreversible. If you have to ask whether you know, there's more to be seen. But doubt isn't a sign of failure—it's a sign of honesty. Keep looking. Look at who is doubting. When the one who doubts is recognized as prakriti's modification and you—the awareness watching doubt—are recognized as purusha, the distinction becomes clear. Then no one needs to tell you; you simply know."
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🌅 Daily Practice
Knowledge affirmation: Begin the day with direct looking, not belief. Ask: 'Am I the body that just woke up, or am I the awareness that noticed waking happen?' Rest in the answer. This isn't a mantra; it's direct inquiry. Whatever the day brings, this knowing remains unchanged.
Sarvathā practice: In whatever you're doing—working, eating, conversing—practice recognizing: 'This activity is prakriti functioning. I am the knower of this activity.' This doesn't change the activity but changes your relationship to it. You engage fully while knowing you are not the engaging.
Liberation check: Before sleep, honestly assess: 'Today, did I abide in knowing or in forgetting?' Don't judge—just observe. Whether you spent the day in clarity or confusion, the knowing itself is always available. Touch it now. This awareness that surveys the day—this is purusha. Sleep as this, not as the tired personality.