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Bhagavad Geeta · Krishna

Chapter 14

गुणत्रयविभागयोग

Yoga through Understanding the Three Modes of Material Nature

Verses

  1. Verse 1

    śrī bhagavān uvāca paraṃ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṃ jñānam uttamam| yaj jñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṃ siddhim ito 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 jñānam upāśritya mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ| 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 yonir mahad brahma tasmin garbhaṃ dadhāmy aham| 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 mahad yonir ahaṃ 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 rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisaṃbhavāḥ| nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinam avyayam||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 nirmalatvāt prakāśakam anāmayam| 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| tan nibadhnāti 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

    tamas tv ajñānajaṃ viddhi mohanaṃ sarvadehinām| pramādālasyanidrābhis tan nibadhnāti 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| jñānam āvṛtya tu tamaḥ pramāde sañjayaty uta||14.9||

    Meaning

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

  10. Verse 10

    rajas tamaś cābhibhūya sattvaṃ bhavati bhārata| rajaḥ sattvaṃ tamaś caiva tamaḥ sattvaṃ rajas tathā||14.10||

    Meaning

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

  11. Verse 11

    sarvadvāreṣu dehe 'smin prakāśa upajāyate| jñānaṃ yadā tadā vidyād vivṛddhaṃ sattvam ity uta||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 pravṛttir ārambhaḥ karmaṇām aśamaḥ spṛhā| rajasy etāni 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 'pravṛttiś ca pramādo moha eva ca| tamasy etāni 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 lokān amalān pratipadyate||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 pralīnas tamasi 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| rajasas tu phalaṃ duḥkham ajñānaṃ 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

    sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṃ rajaso lobha eva ca| pramādamohau tamaso bhavato 'jñānam eva 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| guṇebhyaś ca 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

    guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī dehasamudbhavān| janmamṛtyujarāduḥkhair vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute||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 kair liṃgais trīn guṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho| kim ācāraḥ kathaṃ caitāṃs trīn guṇān ativartate||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 bhagavān uvāca prakāśaṃ ca pravṛttiṃ ca moham eva 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 dhīras tulyanindātmasaṃstutiḥ||14.24||

    Meaning

    Who accepts pain and pleasure as they come, is centred 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

    mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo mitrāripakṣayoḥ| sarvārambhaparityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate||14.25||

    Meaning

    Who looks equally upon honour and dishonour, 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 guṇān samatītyaitān 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'ham amṛtasyāvyayasya 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.

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