Khushal Jethava Gita Gyan · Chapter 14 of 18
गुणत्रयविभागयोग
The Yoga of the Three Qualities · 27 verses
Everything in nature is woven from three qualities: goodness (sattva), which is clear and bright; passion (rajas), which is restless and craving; and dullness (tamas), which is heavy and careless. Each binds in its own way, each tries to overpower the others, and each leads somewhere different. Krishna shows how to recognise them, and the person who has gone beyond all three.
Verses 14.1–14.4
Krishna offers the best of all knowledge once more. Nature is the great womb; he places the seed in it, and every being in every form is born from that union (14.3–4). He is the father who gives the seed.
Krishna said
परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम्।
यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनयः सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गताः ॥
paraṃ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṃ jñānamuttamam
yajjñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṃ siddhimito gatāḥ
Again I will teach you the supreme knowledge, the best of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages have passed from this world to the highest perfection.
इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागताः।
सर्गेऽपि नोपजायन्ते प्रलये न व्यथन्ति च ॥
idaṃ jñānamupāśritya mama sādharmyamāgatāḥ
sarge'pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca
Taking refuge in this knowledge and reaching oneness with me, they are not born at the time of creation, nor troubled at the time of dissolution.
मम योनिर्महद्ब्रह्म तस्मिन् गर्भं दधाम्यहम्।
संभवः सर्वभूतानां ततो भवति भारत ॥
mama yonirmahadbrahma tasmin garbhaṃ dadhāmyaham
saṃbhavaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ tato bhavati bhārata
My womb is the great Brahman, nature itself; in it I place the seed, and from it all beings are born, Bharata.
सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः।
तासां ब्रह्म महद्योनिरहं बीजप्रदः पिता ॥
sarvayoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ
tāsāṃ brahma mahadyonirahaṃ bījapradaḥ pitā
Whatever forms are born in any womb, son of Kunti, the great Brahman is their womb, and I am the father who gives the seed.
Verses 14.5–14.13
Goodness binds with the pleasure of happiness and knowing; passion binds with the itch to act; dullness binds with carelessness, laziness and sleep (14.5–8). They take turns overpowering one another. You can tell which is winning: clarity, or restlessness, or fog.
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः।
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥
sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisaṃbhavāḥ
nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinamavyayam
Goodness (sattva), passion (rajas) and dullness (tamas): these qualities born of nature bind the imperishable embodied one to the body, mighty-armed.
तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम्।
सुखसङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ ॥
tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvātprakāśakamanāmayam
sukhasaṅgena badhnāti jñānasaṅgena cānagha
Of these, goodness, being pure, is illuminating and free from harm; it binds by attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge, sinless one.
रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम्।
तन्निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम् ॥
rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇāsaṅgasamudbhavam
tannibadhnāti kaunteya karmasaṅgena dehinam
Know that passion is the nature of desire, arising from craving and attachment; it binds the embodied one by attachment to action, son of Kunti.
तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम्।
प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत ॥
tamastvajñānajaṃ viddhi mohanaṃ sarvadehinām
pramādālasyanidrābhistannibadhnāti bhārata
And know that dullness, born of ignorance, deludes all embodied beings; it binds by carelessness, laziness and sleep, Bharata.
सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत।
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत ॥
sattvaṃ sukhe sañjayati rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata
jñānamāvṛtya tu tamaḥ pramāde sañjayatyuta
Goodness attaches one to happiness, passion to action, Bharata; but dullness, veiling knowledge, attaches one to carelessness.
रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत।
रजः सत्त्वं तमश्चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस्तथा ॥
rajastamaścābhibhūya sattvaṃ bhavati bhārata
rajaḥ sattvaṃ tamaścaiva tamaḥ sattvaṃ rajastathā
Goodness prevails by overpowering passion and dullness, Bharata; passion by overpowering goodness and dullness; and dullness by overpowering goodness and passion.
सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते।
ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत ॥
sarvadvāreṣu dehe'sminprakāśa upajāyate
jñānaṃ yadā tadā vidyādvivṛddhaṃ sattvamityuta
When the light of knowledge shines through all the gates of the body, then know that goodness has grown strong.
लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा।
रजस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ ॥
lobhaḥ pravṛttirārambhaḥ karmaṇāmaśamaḥ spṛhā
rajasyetāni jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha
Greed, busyness, the starting of ventures, restlessness and craving arise when passion grows strong, best of the Bharatas.
अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश्च प्रमादो मोह एव च।
तमस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे कुरुनन्दन ॥
aprakāśo'pravṛttiśca pramādo moha eva ca
tamasyetāni jāyante vivṛddhe kurunandana
Darkness, inertia, carelessness and delusion arise when dullness grows strong, joy of the Kurus.
Verses 14.14–14.18
Each quality bears its own fruit: goodness gives knowledge, passion gives greed and pain, dullness gives delusion. Those in goodness go upward, those in passion stay in the middle, those in dullness sink downward (14.18).
यदा सत्त्वे प्रवृद्धे तु प्रलयं याति देहभृत्।
तदोत्तमविदां लोकानमलान्प्रतिपद्यते ॥
yadā sattve pravṛddhe tu pralayaṃ yāti dehabhṛt
tadottamavidāṃ lokānamalānpratipadyate
If the embodied one meets death when goodness prevails, it goes to the pure worlds of those who know the highest.
रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते।
तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥
rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate
tathā pralīnastamasi mūḍhayoniṣu jāyate
Dying in passion, one is born among those attached to action; dying in dullness, one is born in the wombs of the deluded.
कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम्।
रजसस्तु फलं दुःखमज्ञानं तमसः फलम् ॥
karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṃ nirmalaṃ phalam
rajasastu phalaṃ duḥkhamajñānaṃ tamasaḥ phalam
The fruit of good action is said to be pure and of the nature of goodness; the fruit of passion is pain; the fruit of dullness is ignorance.
सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च।
प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च ॥
sattvātsañjāyate jñānaṃ rajaso lobha eva ca
pramādamohau tamaso bhavato'jñānameva ca
From goodness arises knowledge, from passion greed, and from dullness carelessness, delusion and ignorance.
ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः।
जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था अधो गच्छन्ति तामसाः ॥
ūrdhvaṃ gacchanti sattvasthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ
jaghanyaguṇavṛttisthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
Those established in goodness go upward; those in passion stay in the middle; those in dullness, abiding in the lowest quality, go downward.
Verses 14.19–14.27
How do you recognise someone who has gone beyond? They don't hate light, activity or delusion when it comes, or crave it when it goes. They sit as if indifferent, knowing "it's only the qualities moving" (14.23): the same in pleasure and pain, praise and blame, toward friend and foe.
नान्यं गुणेभ्यः कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति।
गुणेभ्यश्च परं वेत्ति मद्भावं सोऽधिगच्छति ॥
nānyaṃ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṃ yadā draṣṭānupaśyati
guṇebhyaśca paraṃ vetti madbhāvaṃ so'dhigacchati
When the seer sees no doer other than the qualities, and knows what is beyond the qualities, they come to my state of being.
गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान्।
जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते ॥
guṇānetānatītya trīndehī dehasamudbhavān
janmamṛtyujarāduḥkhairvimukto'mṛtamaśnute
Going beyond these three qualities from which the body arises, the embodied one is freed from birth, death, old age and sorrow, and attains immortality.
Arjuna said
कैर्लिंगैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो।
किमाचारः कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते ॥
kairliṃgaistrīnguṇānetānatīto bhavati prabho
kimācāraḥ kathaṃ caitāṃstrīnguṇānativartate
By what marks is one known who has gone beyond these three qualities, Lord? How do they behave, and how do they go beyond them?
Krishna said
प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव।
न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ्क्षति ॥
prakāśaṃ ca pravṛttiṃ ca mohameva ca pāṇḍava
na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati
Light, activity and delusion, Pandava: such a one neither hates them when they arise nor longs for them when they cease.
उदासीनवदासीनो गुणैर्यो न विचाल्यते।
गुणा वर्तन्त इत्येव योऽवतिष्ठति नेङ्गते ॥
udāsīnavadāsīno guṇairyo na vicālyate
guṇā vartanta ityeva yo'vatiṣṭhati neṅgate
Sitting as if indifferent, unshaken by the qualities, knowing "it is only the qualities moving," they stay firm and do not waver.
समदुःखसुखः स्वस्थः समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः।
तुल्यप्रियाप्रियो धीरस्तुल्यनिन्दात्मसंस्तुतिः ॥
samaduḥkhasukhaḥ svasthaḥ samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ
tulyapriyāpriyo dhīrastulyanindātmasaṃstutiḥ
The same in pleasure and pain, self-contained, seeing a clod, a stone and gold as equal, even toward the pleasant and the unpleasant, steady, the same in blame and praise,
मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः।
सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते ॥
mānāpamānayostulyastulyo mitrāripakṣayoḥ
sarvārambhaparityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate
the same in honour and dishonour, the same toward friend and foe, having given up every self-centred undertaking: such a one is said to have gone beyond the qualities.
मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते।
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान् ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ॥
māṃ ca yo'vyabhicāreṇa bhaktiyogena sevate
sa guṇānsamatītyaitān brahmabhūyāya kalpate
And whoever serves me with the unwavering yoga of devotion, going beyond these qualities, is fit to become Brahman.
ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाऽहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च।
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च ॥
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhā'hamamṛtasyāvyayasya ca
śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca
For I am the ground of Brahman, of the immortal and imperishable, of eternal dharma and of absolute bliss.