โศลก 13.2013.113.213.313.413.513.613.713.813.913.1013.1113.1213.1313.1413.1513.1613.1713.1813.1913.2013.2113.2213.2313.2413.2513.2613.2713.2813.2913.3013.3113.3213.3313.3413.35

Know thou that Nature (matter) and the Spirit are both beginningless; and know also that all modifications and alities are born of Nature.

Know that nature (prakṛti) and the person (puruṣa) are both without beginning, and know that the changes and the qualities (guṇa) arise from nature.

Krishna now takes up the first pair Arjuna named: nature (prakṛti) and the person (puruṣa). Both, he says, are without beginning. Neither was created at some point in time. All the transformations of the world, along with the three qualities (guṇa) that shape everything, arise from nature. This draws on the Sankhya view of two fundamental principles, the material and the conscious. The Gita adopts this framework but, as the chapter shows, also places both within a larger divine order. For Arjuna, the verse begins to explain where his body, mind and emotions come from.