Shrimad Bhagavad Gita: Devotion & the Knower and the Known (Chapter 12 and 13)

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The twelfth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, the 'Yoga of Devotion', begins with Arjuna asking the Lord, 'Between the worship of Isvara with form and without form, which method is superior?' Sri Krsna recommends former for most devotees as the worship of the formless is very difficult. He points out that the key quality is single pointed devotion. Sri Krsna then goes to list the steps to attain oneness with Isvara. Heends the chapter with a list of thirty-nine qualities of the perfect devotee, of which attaining even one could open the door for acquiring the others.

The thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gita called the "Yoga of the Field and Its Knower', begins with Sri Krsna explaining the terms 'the field' as 'matter and its modifications' and 'the knower of the field' as the 'Spirit, the supreme Self". The Lord explains while the field and its knower seems inextricably mixed up, to know the distinction between them is true Knowledge. Having thus established the supreme Self as the object to be known, Sri Krsna goes on to describe how this Knowledge can facilitate the discovery of one's spiritualidentity.

Knowing fully well the essential temperament of Arjuna, the royal hero, Krşņa had tickled his kingly ambition at the closing of the last chapter. To a true king, the challenge of a greater glory is too strong to be resisted. Wherever a vaster field, a greater profit, a more glowing resplendency is recognised, he cannot resist the temptation to fight for it, to conquer it and to bring it within his ruling hand, and thereby spread his unquestioned sway over the conquered domain. Expecting this reaction in his royal friend of endless heroism, Krsna had not only exhibited the divine glory of the Lord and His cosmic form, but also declared to Arjuna, 'Through single-minded devotion can this cosmic form be known and seen and entered into by anyone'. On hearing that this infinite glory can be his through devotion, the Pandava prince optimistically determines to make an attempt to conquer and bring to himself this spiritual glory.