Chapter 14
Guṇatraya-vibhāga-yoga
The Three Modes of Nature
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: I shall once again speak about the best and highest wisdom among all forms of knowledge, having realized which, all sages have attained the supreme perfection beyond this world.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca paraṁ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṁ jñānam uttamam | yaj jñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṁ siddhim ito gatāḥ || 1 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Taking refuge in this wisdom, they attain the same nature as Me. As a result, they are not born at the time of creation and remain undisturbed even at the time of dissolution.
idaṁ jñānam upāśritya mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ | sarge ’pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca || 2 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
My womb is the totality of material existence in which I place the seed from which arises the origin of all beings, O descendant of Bharata.
mama yonir mahad brahma tasmin garbhaṁ dadhāmy aham | sambhavaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ tato bhavati bhārata || 3 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
O Kaunteya, whatever forms are created in various wombs, material nature is their womb and I am the seed-giving father.
sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ | sambhavanti yāḥ tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā || 4 ||
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Sattva, rajas, and tamas—these guṇas arise from prakṛti and bind the immutable embodied Self dwelling in the body, O mighty-armed Arjuna.
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ | nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam || 5 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Of these, sattva is illuminating since it is pure and free from contamination. O sinless one, it binds through attachment to happiness and knowledge.
tatra sattvaṁ nirmalatvāt prakāśakam anāmayam | sukha-saṅgena badhnāti jñāna-saṅgena cānagha || 6 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Know that rajas has the nature of passion and is the origin of intense craving and attachment. It binds the embodied Self through attachment to action, O Kaunteya.
rajo rāgātmakaṁ viddhi tṛṣṇā-saṅga-samudbhavam | tan nibadhnāti kaunteya karma-saṅgena dehinam || 7 ||
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Know that tamas gives rise to ignorance and deludes all embodied beings. It binds through negligence, laziness, and sleep, O descendant of Bharata.
tamas tv ajñāna-jaṁ viddhi mohanaṁ sarva-dehinām | pramādālasya-nidrābhis tan nibadhnāti bhārata || 8 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Sattva binds one to happiness, and rajas to action, O descendant of Bharata. But tamas, obscuring knowledge, binds to negligence.
sattvaṁ sukhe sañjayati rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata | jñānam āvṛtya tu tamaḥ pramāde sañjayaty uta || 9 ||
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O descendant of Bharata! Overpowering rajas and tamas, sattva prevails, subduing sattva and tamas, rajas prevails, and likewise, subduing sattva and rajas, tamas prevails
rajas tamaś cābhibhūya sattvaṁ bhavati bhārata | rajaḥ sattvaṁ tamaś caiva tamaḥ sattvaṁ rajas tathā || 10 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
When illuminating wisdom arises in all the sense organs of this body, then one should know that sattva is predominant.
sarva-dvāreṣu dehe ’smin prakāśa upajāyate | jñānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād vivṛddhaṁ sattvam ity uta || 11 ||
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Greed, intense activity, initiation of various different tasks, restlessness, and craving—these arise, when rajas is dominant, O best of the Bharatas.
lobhaḥ pravṛttir ārambhaḥ karmaṇām aśamaḥ spṛhā | rajasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha || 12 ||
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Darkness, inertia, negligence, and delusion—these arise when tamas dominates, O descendant of Kuru.
aprakāśo ’pravṛttiś ca | pramādo moha eva ca tamasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe kuru-nandana || 13 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
If the embodied Self meets death while sattva predominates, then it attains the pure realms of those who know the Supreme.
yadā sattve pravṛddhe tu pralayaṁ yāti deha-bhṛt | tadottama-vidāṁ lokān amalān pratipadyate || 14 ||
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Meeting death when rajas predominates, one is born among those attached to action. Similarly, one who dies when tamas prevails is born among beings in delusion.
rajasi pralayaṁ gatvā karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate | tathā pralīnas tamasi mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate || 15 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
The result of virtuous action is said to be sattvic and pure, but the result of rajasic action is suffering, and the result of tamasic action is ignorance.
karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṁ nirmalaṁ phalam | rajasas tu phalaṁ duḥkham ajñānaṁ tamasaḥ phalam || 16 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
From sattva arises knowledge, from rajas comes greed, and from tamas arise negligence, delusion, and ignorance.
sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ rajaso lobha eva ca | pramāda-mohau tamaso bhavato ’jñānam eva ca || 17 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Those established in sattva rise upwards; those in rajas remain in the middle; and those in tamas, whose character is established in the vilest qualities, go downwards.
ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ | jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ || 18 ||
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When the seer perceives that there is no doer other than the guṇas, and knows itself to be superior to the guṇas, it attains My divine nature.
nānyaṁ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṁ yadā draṣṭānupaśyati | guṇebhyaś ca paraṁ vetti mad-bhāvaṁ so ’dhigacchati || 19 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Transcending these three guṇas that give rise to the body, the embodied Self is liberated from birth, death, old age, and suffering, and attains immortality.
guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān | janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto ’mṛtam aśnute || 20 ||
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Arjuna said: By what signs is he characterized as one who has gone beyond the three guṇas? How does such a person behave? And how does one overcome the three guṇas, O Lord?
arjuna uvāca kair liṅgais trīn guṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho | kim-ācāraḥ kathaṁ caitāṁs trīn guṇān ativartate || 21 ||
↓ Word-for-word meaning
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O Pāṇḍava, that person is said to have transcended the guṇas who does not resent illumination, activity, or delusion when they appear, nor longs for them when they are absent; who remains indifferent and undisturbed by the guṇas, who remains firm and does not waver, realizing that the guṇas alone are acting; who is equal in pleasure and pain, established within; who sees a lump of earth, a stone, and a piece of gold as the same; who is firmly resolved; who is equal to those who are dear and those who are not; who is steady-minded and equal to praise and blame; who is indifferent to honour and dishonour, equal to friends and enemies, and who has given up all worldly undertakings.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca prakāśaṁ ca pravṛttiṁ ca moham eva ca pāṇḍava | na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati || 22 || udāsīna-vad āsīno guṇair yo na vicālyate | guṇā vartanta ity evaṁ yo ’vatiṣṭhati neṅgate || 23 || sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ sva-sthaḥ sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ | tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ || 24 || mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ | sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate || 25 ||
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But one who serves Me with unwavering devotion transcends the guṇas and becomes fit to realize Brahman.
māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate | sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate || 26 ||
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I am indeed the foundation of the immortal and unchanging Brahman, as well as the basis of the eternal dharma and absolute happiness.
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca | śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca || 27 ||
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