第十三章
物質與靈魂
Matter and Spirit
一. 引言
本章是很特殊的一章。在多數中英譯本中，都把本章命名為「場與場的知曉者」(Field and knower of the field)。但「場」這個字實際上是相當現代的一個字眼（尤其是從物理學的觀點來看：像是磁場、重力場等），因為「場」描述的是物質、能量、時空，乃至層層心智所擴展出來的連續體(Continuum)。西方的物理學一直到愛因斯坦相對論的提出，才把物質與能量視為是不可分別的事物；但《薄伽梵歌》早在5000年前就已經有了這樣的看法，甚至更進一步把物質與靈魂視為一體：兩者只是造化展現的不同面向罷了。
愛因斯坦生命最後的幾十年都將心力投入在「 統一場論」的研究上，嘗試尋找一個統一的理論：含納、解釋宇宙所有的作用力（強力、弱力、萬有引力、電磁力等），但並未成功。統一場理論至今仍然是物理學的待解之謎，更不用說要解釋心靈（意識）的力量了。從更寬廣的角度來看，如果拋棄自性（靈魂）的存在，僅僅局限於唯物、機械的眼光，恐怕是永遠得不出最終的答案。
在本章中，克裡希納說我們的肉身就是「場」，而我們的自性（靈魂）就是「場的知曉者」。但他所說的場並不只局限於肉身，事實上他所說的場就是這個物質世界（娑婆世界，Maya）；至於「場的知曉者」則是我們的自性，也就是我們的靈魂。
普羅希在本文所引用的這個英譯本中，巧妙地以「活動場所」(Playground; 或遊樂場) 來取代「場」；因為克裡希納在這裡強調的「場」乃指肉身，以靈魂的遊樂場來說明也頗為傳神。普羅希也以比較有基督宗教色彩的「聖靈」一詞來替代「自性（靈魂）」，如此也比較容易被歐美認識了解與接受。
正如克裡希納所強調的：
「因此在人的肉身中住著無上的上帝，他能看見、允諾、維繫、享受，是至高的上帝，是至高的自性（靈魂）。」
（本文所有章節所指的「自性」是由原文「Self」翻譯而來，可理解為靈魂）
二. 正文
阿朱納問：「我的主！誰是上帝？何為造化？何謂物質？又何為自性？人們稱為智慧的究竟是什麼？什麼是值得去知曉的？我希望您為我解釋這些疑問。」
Arjuna asked: " My Lord! Who is God and what is Nature; what is Matter and what is the Self; what is that they call Wisdom, and what is it that is worth knowing? I wish to have this explained. "
克裡希納答：「阿朱納啊！人的肉身是自性的活動場所；而那了知諸物質活動者，聖哲們稱之為自性（靈魂）。」
Lord Shri Krishna replied: " O Arjuna ! the body of man is the playground of the Self; and that which knows the activities of Matter, sages call the Self. "
「我是無所不在的自性（靈魂），嬉戲於物質的活動場所；有關物質以及那無所不知的自性（靈魂）的知識，就是智慧。」
" I am the Omniscient Self that abides in the playground of Matter; knowledge of Matter and of the all-knowing Self is wisdom."
「何謂物質，它是由什麼構成的，它自何而來，又為何會不斷變化？何謂自性，以及其力量為何？這些我現在將將要地為你說明。」
" What is called Matter, of what it is composed, whence it came, and why it changes, what the Self is, and what Its power - this I will now briefly set forth. "
「先知們用各種方式，包括許多意義深遠且有理有據的讚歌與吠陀聖歌來歌頌它。」
" Seers have sung of It in various ways, in many hymns and sacred Vedic songs, weighty in thought and convincing in the argument. "
「五大基本元素（地、火、風、水以及以太）、個性、理智、神秘的生命力量、認知與行動的十種器官（十根）、意念，以及五類感官。」
" The five great fundamentals ( earth, fire, air, water, and ether), personality, intellect, the mysterious life force, the ten organs of perception and action, the mind and the five domains of sensation; "
「好惡、悲喜、同情、活力，以及對生命持續的執著，不斷變化的物質基本上就是由這些組成的。」
" Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, sympathy, vitality, and the persistent clinging to life, these are in brief the constituents of changing Matter. "
「謙虛、誠摯、不傷害（非暴力）、寬恕、正直、對師父的服侍、純真、堅定、克己自製；「
" Humility, sincerity, harmlessness, forgiveness, rectitude, service of the Master, purity, steadfastness, self-control; "
「捨棄感官之樂、不驕傲、對生老病死四苦有正確的了解。」
" Renunciation of the delights of sense, absence of pride, right understanding of the painful problems of birth and death, of age and sickness. "
「無分別，對性、子女與家庭都無執著、不為福禍所動搖。」
" Indifference; non-attachment to sex, progeny or home; equanimity in good fortune and in bad. "
「專注於我，而且唯獨我，對我虔誠不移；喜好獨處，對社交漠不關心；」
" Unswerving devotion to Me, by concentration on Me and Me alone, a love for solitude, indifference to social life. "
「不斷渴求關於自性的知識，並且思考有關偉大真理的教誨 - 此即為智慧；所有其餘的，皆是無明（愚昧）。「
" Constant yearning for the knowledge of Self, and pondering over the lessons of the great Truth - this is Wisdom, all else ignorance. "
「現在我要告訴你那人們應當知曉的偉大真理，因為藉著它人們將可贏得不朽之極樂 - 那是無始，是永恆聖靈所在的我；既是無形無相，卻又非無形無相。」
" I will speak to you now of that great Truth which man ought to know since by its means he will win immortal bliss; That which is without beginning, the Eternal Spirit which dwells in Me, neither with form nor yet without it. "
「到處都是『它』的手與腳，能見的眼睛、能想的頭腦、能說的嘴巴；『它』無處不聽見；『它』住於一切世界；『它』也含納這一切。」
" Everywhere are Its hands and Its feet; everywhere It has eyes that see, heads that think and mouths that speak; everywhere It listens; It dwells in all the worlds; It envelops them all. "
「超越感官，卻又穿梭於所有的感官知覺。『它』不受任何事物束縛，卻又維繫一切。不受造化三性影響，卻又享有造化三性的一切。」
" Beyond the senses, It yet shines through every sense perception. Bound to nothing, It yet sustains everything. Unaffected by the Qualities, It still enjoys them all. "
「『它』在眾生之內，卻又在眾生之外；既靜且動；細微不可辯；遙遠卻又總是在近旁。」
" It is within all beings, yet outside; motionless yet moving; too subtle to be perceived; far away yet always near. "
「既是所有眾生內不可分割的一部分，卻活生生地在眾生之外；『它』是萬物的維繫者，是造物主，也同樣是毀滅者。」
" In all beings undivided, yet living in the division, It is the upholder of all, Creator and Destroyer alike. "
「『它』是眾光之光，非黑暗所能觸及。此一大智慧，是唯一值得知曉的， 也是智慧唯獨所能教導的。『它』是一切眾生心中的當下。」
" It is the Light of lights, beyond the reach of darkness; the Wisdom, the only that is worth knowing or that wisdom can teach; the Presence in the hearts of all. "
「至此我已簡要地告訴你何謂物質，什麼是值得去了悟的自性，以及何謂智慧。獻身於我的人會了解，而且也必然會進入我之內。」
" Thus have I told you in brief what Matter is, and the Self worth realizing and what is Wisdom, He who is devoted to Me knows, and assuredly he will enter into Me. "
「當知造化與上帝都是沒有起始的；而人們品行與其內在之三性不同，全是源自造化。」
" Know further that Nature and God have no beginning, and that differences in character and quality have their origin in Nature only. "
「造化是造出因果的律則；上帝則是承受以及享有一切苦樂的源頭。」
" Nature is the Law which generates cause and effect; God is the source of the enjoyment of all pleasure and pain. "
「住於造化中心的上帝，體驗由造化所造的三性；而他與三性間之因緣，決定了他所住的肉身是善或惡。」
" God dwelling in the heart of Nature experience the Qualities which Nature bring forth, and His affinity toward the Qualities is the reason for His living in good or evil body. "
「因此在人的肉身中住著無上的上帝，他能看見、允諾、維繫、享受，是至高的上帝，是至高的自性。」
" Thus in the body of man dwells the Supreme God; He who sees and permits, upholds and enjoys; the Highest God and the Highest Self. "
「了解上帝、造化與造化三性的人，不論其生命之境遇如何，無須再降生塵世。」
" He who understands God and Nature along with her Qualities, whatever be his condition in life, he comes not again to earth. "
「有些人藉由靜坐冥想其內在之自性而了悟至上，有些人藉由單純的理解（智慧之道），而有些人則是透過正行（正確的行為及行動）。」
" Some realize the Supreme by meditating, by its aid, on the Self within, others by pure reason, others by right action. "
「同樣的，也有一些人並沒有直接得到知識，只是從別人處聽聞，但還是敬拜；那麼這些人，只要是忠實於教理，仍然可以跨越死亡之海。」
" Others again, having no direct knowledge but only hearing from others, nevertheless worship, and they too, if true to the teaching, cross the sea of death. "
「不論是會動或不會動的事物，但凡有生命在其內，都是物質與聖靈（靈魂）的共同產物。」
" Whatever life is seen in things movable or immovable, it is the joint product of Matter and Spirit. "
「能於眾生中見到至高上主，於腐朽的事物中見到不朽，這樣的人才是真正的看見。」
" He who can see the Supreme Lord in all beings, the Imperishable amid the perishable, he it is who really sees. "
「在一切萬物中都能無有分別地看到上主，其行動作為不但不會損及其屬靈的生命，反而會引導他到至福的境界。」
" Beholding the Lord in all things equally, his actions do not mar his spiritual life but lead him to the height of Bliss. "
「了解一切都只是造化的律則將行動導向結果，而自性從來就無為，這樣的人是了知真理的。」
" He who understands that it is only the Law of Nature that brings action to fruition, and that the Self never acts, alone knows the Truth. "
「看到形象各異的生命皆來自於『一』，自他而生而長，這樣的人必然會尋得絕對者（上主）。」
" He who sees the diverse forms of life all rooted in the One, and growing forth from Him, he shall indeed find the Absolute. "
「王子啊！無上聖靈是無始的，也無三性，而且是不朽的；『它』雖然在肉體之內，但『它』並不作為，也不被作為所影響。」
" The Supreme Spirit, O Prince ! is without beginning, without Qualities and Imperishable, and though it be within the body, yet It does not act, nor is It affected by action. "
「正如虛空，雖無所不在，但因其精微之本質而能不受影響；自性亦然，雖存於形象各異的生命中，仍保有其純然本性。」
" As space, though present everywhere, remains by reason of it subtlely unaffected, so the Self, though present in all forms, retains Its purity unalloyed. "
「猶如太陽普照大地，上主之光也同樣遍及寰宇。」
" As the one Sun illuminates the whole earth, so the Lord illumines the whole universe. "
「因此具慧眼的人能看出物質與聖靈（靈魂）的分別，並了知生命如何從造化的律則中解脫，他們證得無上。」
" Those who with the eyes of wisdom thus see the difference between Matter and Spirit, and know how to liberate Life from the Law of Nature, they attain the Supreme. "
這就是聖靈的科學與自我認識的藝術、奧義書之一的聖典 - 《薄伽梵歌》中，克裡希納與阿朱納王子對話的第十三章，名為「物質與靈性」
Thus, in the Holy Book the Bhagavad Gita, one of the Upanishads, in the Science of the Supreme Spirit, in the Art of Self-Knowledge, in the colloquy between the Divine Lord Shri Krishna and the Prince Arjuna, stands the thirteenth chapter, entitled: "Matter and Spirit".