श्रीभगवानुवाच इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते । एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः ॥
śrī bhagavān uvāca idaṃ śarīraṃ kaunteya kṣetramityabhidhīyate | etadyo vetti taṃ prāhuḥ kṣetrajña iti tadvidaḥ ||
Translation
The Blessed Lord said: This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field. Those who know it call the one who knows it the 'knower of the field.'
Interpretation
The foundational definition: the body (idam shariram) is the kshetra (field). The analogy is agricultural: a field is the medium in which things grow and are cultivated; the body is the medium in which experience arises and karma is cultivated. The one who knows this field — the witnessing consciousness — is the kshetrajna (knower of the field). The crucial insight: there is a knower within you that is distinct from what is known. The Self observes the body; it is not the body.