Verse 7
इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतना धृतिः | एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम् || ७ ||
Transliteration
icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṅghātaś cetanā dhṛtiḥ etat kṣetraṁ samāsena sa-vikāram udāhṛtam
Synonyms
icchā—desire; dveṣaḥ—hatred; sukham—pleasure; duḥkham—pain; saṅghātaḥ—the aggregate; cetanā—consciousness; dhṛtiḥ—conviction; etat—all this; kṣetram—the field; samāsena—in summary; sa-vikāram—with modifications; udāhṛtam—is described.
Translation
“Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the aggregate (of body and senses), consciousness, and fortitude — this, in brief, is declared to be the Field with its modifications.”
Multi-Tradition Commentary
The modifications of the field include the full range of psychological experience: desire (iccha), hatred (dvesha), pleasure (sukha), pain (duhkha), aggregate/body complex (sanghata), consciousness as reflected in matter (cetana), and the capacity to hold firm (dhrti). Significantly, even 'cetana' — the appearance of consciousness in matter — is listed as part of the field. The pure Consciousness itself, the Kshetrajna, is not this reflected consciousness but the original light that is reflected.
Practical Application (Modern Life)
Notice how desire and aversion (iccha and dvesha) are the twin engines of suffering. Every moment of psychological suffering can be traced to either wanting what is not present or not wanting what is. The Kshetrajna — your true Self — neither desires nor hates. Touching that witnessing presence, even briefly, reveals a freedom prior to all preference.