Skip to content
Reading size
Bhagavad Geeta · Krishna

Chapter 14

गुणत्रयविभागयोग

Yoga through Understanding the Three Modes of Material Nature

Verses

  1. Verse 1

    śrī bhagavānuvāca paraṃ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṃ jñānamuttamam| yajjñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṃ siddhimito gatāḥ||14.1||

    Meaning

    Lord Shri Krishna continued: Now I will reveal to you the wisdom that is beyond knowledge, by attaining which the sages have reached perfection.

  2. Verse 2

    idaṃ jñānamupāśritya mama sādharmyamāgatāḥ| sarge'pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca||14.2||

    Meaning

    Dwelling in wisdom and realizing My divinity, they are not reborn when the universe is recreated at the beginning of every cycle, nor are they affected when it is dissolved.

  3. Verse 3

    mama yonirmahadbrahma tasmin garbhaṃ dadhāmyaham| saṃbhavaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ tato bhavati bhārata||14.3||

    Meaning

    The eternal cosmos is My womb, in which I plant the seed from which all beings are born, O prince!

  4. Verse 4

    sarvayoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ| tāsāṃ brahma mahadyonirahaṃ bījapradaḥ pitā||14.4||

    Meaning

    O illustrious son of Kunti! Through whatever wombs men are born, it is the Spirit itself that conceives, and I am their father.

  5. Verse 5

    sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisaṃbhavāḥ| nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinamavyayam||14.5||

    Meaning

    Purity, passion, and ignorance are the qualities that the law of nature brings forth. They fetter the free spirit in all beings.

  6. Verse 6

    tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvātprakāśakamanāmayam| sukhasaṅgena badhnāti jñānasaṅgena cānagha||14.6||

    Meaning

    O Sinless One! Of these, purity, being luminous, strong, and invulnerable, binds one with its yearning for happiness and illumination.

  7. Verse 7

    rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇāsaṅgasamudbhavam| tannibadhnāti kaunteya karmasaṅgena dehinam||14.7||

    Meaning

    Passion, engendered by thirst for pleasure and attachment, binds the soul through its fondness for activities.

  8. Verse 8

    tamastvajñānajaṃ viddhi mohanaṃ sarvadehinām| pramādālasyanidrābhistannibadhnāti bhārata||14.8||

    Meaning

    But Ignorance, the product of darkness, stupefies the senses of all embodied beings, binding them with chains of folly, indolence, and lethargy.

  9. Verse 9

    sattvaṃ sukhe sañjayati rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata| jñānamāvṛtya tu tamaḥ pramāde sañjayatyuta||14.9||

    Meaning

    Purity brings happiness, passion brings commotion, and ignorance, which obscures wisdom, leads to a life of failure.

  10. Verse 10

    rajastamaścābhibhūya sattvaṃ bhavati bhārata| rajaḥ sattvaṃ tamaścaiva tamaḥ sattvaṃ rajastathā||14.10||

    Meaning

    O Prince! Purity prevails when passion and ignorance are overcome; passion, when purity and ignorance are overcome; and ignorance when it is overcome by purity and passion.

  11. Verse 11

    sarvadvāreṣu dehe'sminprakāśa upajāyate| jñānaṃ yadā tadā vidyādvivṛddhaṃ sattvamityuta||14.11||

    Meaning

    When the light of knowledge gleams forth from all the gates of the body, then be sure that purity prevails.

  12. Verse 12

    lobhaḥ pravṛttirārambhaḥ karmaṇāmaśamaḥ spṛhā| rajasyetāni jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha||14.12||

    Meaning

    O best of Indians! Avarice, the impulse to act, and the beginning of action itself are all due to the dominance of passion.

  13. Verse 13

    aprakāśo'pravṛttiśca pramādo moha eva ca| tamasyetāni jāyante vivṛddhe kurunandana||14.13||

    Meaning

    Darkness, stagnation, folly, and infatuation are the results of the dominance of ignorance, O joy of the Kuru clan!

  14. Verse 14

    yadā sattve pravṛddhe tu pralayaṃ yāti dehabhṛt| tadottamavidāṃ lokānamalānpratipadyate||14.14||

    Meaning

    When purity prevails, the soul, upon leaving the body, passes on to the pure regions where those who know the Highest reside.

  15. Verse 15

    rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate| tathā pralīnastamasi mūḍhayoniṣu jāyate||14.15||

    Meaning

    When passion prevails, the soul is reborn among those who love activity; when ignorance rules, it enters the wombs of the ignorant.

  16. Verse 16

    karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṃ nirmalaṃ phalam| rajasastu phalaṃ duḥkhamajñānaṃ tamasaḥ phalam||14.16||

    Meaning

    They say the fruit of a meritorious action is spotless and pure; the outcome of passion is misery, and of ignorance, darkness.

  17. Verse 17

    sattvātsañjāyate jñānaṃ rajaso lobha eva ca| pramādamohau tamaso bhavato'jñānameva ca||14.17||

    Meaning

    Purity engenders wisdom, passion avarice, and ignorance folly, infatuation, and darkness.

  18. Verse 18

    ūrdhvaṃ gacchanti sattvasthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ| jaghanyaguṇavṛttisthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ||14.18||

    Meaning

    When purity is in the ascendant, the man evolves; when passion is in the ascendant, he neither evolves nor degenerates; when ignorance is in the ascendant, he is lost.

  19. Verse 19

    nānyaṃ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṃ yadā draṣṭānupaśyati| guṇebhyaśca paraṃ vetti madbhāvaṃ so'dhigacchati||14.19||

    Meaning

    As soon as one understands that it is only the qualities that act and nothing else, and perceives that which is beyond, they attain My divine nature.

  20. Verse 20

    guṇānetānatītya trīndehī dehasamudbhavān| janmamṛtyujarāduḥkhairvimukto'mṛtamaśnute||14.20||

    Meaning

    When the soul transcends the Qualities, which are the real cause of physical existence, then, freed from birth and death, from old age and misery, he drinks the nectar of immortality.

  21. Verse 21

    arjuna uvāca kairliṃgaistrīnguṇānetānatīto bhavati prabho| kimācāraḥ kathaṃ caitāṃstrīnguṇānativartate||14.21||

    Meaning

    Arjuna asked, "My Lord, how can one recognize someone who has transcended the qualities? How do they act and live beyond them?"

  22. Verse 22

    śrī bhagavānuvāca prakāśaṃ ca pravṛttiṃ ca mohameva ca pāṇḍava| na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati||14.22||

    Meaning

    Lord Shri Krishna replied: O Prince! He who does not shun the quality that is present and does not long for that which is absent;

  23. Verse 23

    udāsīnavadāsīno guṇairyo na vicālyate| guṇā vartanta ityeva yo'vatiṣṭhati neṅgate||14.23||

    Meaning

    He who maintains an attitude of indifference, who is not disturbed by the qualities, who realizes that it is only they who act, and remains calm;

  24. Verse 24

    samaduḥkhasukhaḥ svasthaḥ samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ| tulyapriyāpriyo dhīrastulyanindātmasaṃstutiḥ||14.24||

    Meaning

    Who accepts pain and pleasure as they come, is centered in their Self, to whom a piece of clay, stone, or gold are all the same, who neither likes nor dislikes, who is steadfast, indifferent alike to praise or censure;

  25. Verse 25

    mānāpamānayostulyastulyo mitrāripakṣayoḥ| sarvārambhaparityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate||14.25||

    Meaning

    Who looks equally upon honor and dishonor, loves friends and foes alike, and abandons all initiative, such is he who transcends the qualities.

  26. Verse 26

    māṃ ca yo'vyabhicāreṇa bhaktiyogena sevate| sa guṇānsamatītyaitān brahmabhūyāya kalpate||14.26||

    Meaning

    And he who serves Me alone, with unwavering devotion, shall overcome the Qualities and become one with the Eternal.

  27. Verse 27

    brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhā'hamamṛtasyāvyayasya ca| śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca||14.27||

    Meaning

    For I am the home of the spirit, the continual source of immortality, eternal righteousness, and infinite joy.

Chapters