Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 14: गुणत्रयविभागयोगः
Twenty-seven verses. The three gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas, how they bind, the signs seen when each increases, and the marks of one who has gone beyond them and the way to go beyond are here.
Tap any verse card to open its page with the word-by-word meaning. Pages are ready for every verse of this chapter.
परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम्।
यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनयः सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गताः ॥ 1 ॥Meaning of verse 14.1 →2इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागताः।
सर्गेऽपि नोपजायन्ते प्रलये न व्यथन्ति च ॥ 2 ॥Meaning of verse 14.2 →3मम योनिर्महद्ब्रह्म तस्मिन्गर्भं दधाम्यहम्।
सम्भवः सर्वभूतानां ततो भवति भारत ॥ 3 ॥Meaning of verse 14.3 →4सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः।
तासां ब्रह्म महद्योनिरहं बीजप्रदः पिता ॥ 4 ॥Meaning of verse 14.4 →5सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः।
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥ 5 ॥Meaning of verse 14.5 →6तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम्।
सुखसङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ ॥ 6 ॥Meaning of verse 14.6 →7रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम्।
तन्निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम् ॥ 7 ॥Meaning of verse 14.7 →8तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम्।
प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत ॥ 8 ॥Meaning of verse 14.8 →9सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत।
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत ॥ 9 ॥Meaning of verse 14.9 →10रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत।
रजः सत्त्वं तमश्चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस्तथा ॥ 10 ॥Meaning of verse 14.10 →11सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते।
ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत ॥ 11 ॥Meaning of verse 14.11 →12लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा।
रजस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ ॥ 12 ॥Meaning of verse 14.12 →13अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश्च प्रमादो मोह एव च।
तमस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे कुरुनन्दन ॥ 13 ॥Meaning of verse 14.13 →14यदा सत्त्वे प्रवृद्धे तु प्रलयं याति देहभृत्।
तदोत्तमविदां लोकानमलान्प्रतिपद्यते ॥ 14 ॥Meaning of verse 14.14 →15रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते।
तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥ 15 ॥Meaning of verse 14.15 →16कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम्।
रजसस्तु फलं दुःखमज्ञानं तमसः फलम् ॥ 16 ॥Meaning of verse 14.16 →17सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च।
प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च ॥ 17 ॥Meaning of verse 14.17 →18ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः।
जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था अधो गच्छन्ति तामसाः ॥ 18 ॥Meaning of verse 14.18 →19नान्यं गुणेभ्यः कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति।
गुणेभ्यश्च परं वेत्ति मद्भावं सोऽधिगच्छति ॥ 19 ॥Meaning of verse 14.19 →20गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान्।
जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते ॥ 20 ॥Meaning of verse 14.20 →21अर्जुन उवाच
कैर्लिङ्गैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो।
किमाचारः कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते ॥ 21 ॥Meaning of verse 14.21 →22श्रीभगवानुवाच
प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव।
न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ्क्षति ॥ 22 ॥Meaning of verse 14.22 →23उदासीनवदासीनो गुणैर्यो न विचाल्यते।
गुणा वर्तन्त इत्येव योऽवतिष्ठति नेङ्गते ॥ 23 ॥Meaning of verse 14.23 →24समदुःखसुखः स्वस्थः समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः।
तुल्यप्रियाप्रियो धीरस्तुल्यनिन्दात्मसंस्तुतिः ॥ 24 ॥Meaning of verse 14.24 →25मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः।
सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते ॥ 25 ॥Meaning of verse 14.25 →26मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते।
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते ॥ 26 ॥Meaning of verse 14.26 →27ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च।
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च ॥ 27 ॥Meaning of verse 14.27 →
ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादे गुणत्रयविभागयोगो नाम चतुर्दशोऽध्यायः ॥
About Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yoga
The previous chapter had stopped at ‘attachment to the gunas is the cause of births’ (13.21). This chapter unfolds those gunas: sattva binds through attachment to happiness and knowledge, rajas through attachment to action, tamas through heedlessness, sloth and sleep. The subtlety of the chapter is that even sattva, the good guna, binds.
In the last part Arjuna asks three questions: what are the marks of one who has gone beyond the gunas, what is his conduct, and how does he go beyond them. Krishna’s answer recalls the marks of the devotee in the twelfth chapter, and ends by naming the way: unswerving devotion.
How the chapter moves
- Verses 1 and 2: I shall again declare the best of all knowledge, and those who take refuge in it are free of creation and dissolution.
- Verses 3 and 4: The great Brahman is my womb, I am the seed-giving father.
- Verses 5 to 10: The three gunas, how they bind, and how they rise and fall against each other.
- Verses 11 to 13: The signs seen when each guna increases.
- Verses 14 to 18: The guna at the time of death and its fruit, the fruits of actions, and the directions up, middle and down.
- Verses 19 and 20: One who sees the gunas as the doers and goes beyond them attains immortality.
- Verses 21 to 25: Arjuna’s question and the marks of one beyond the gunas.
- Verses 26 and 27: The way beyond is unswerving devotion, and I am the ground of Brahman, of dharma and of bliss.
Going beyond the gunas: three views
For Shankara going beyond the gunas is a state of knowledge possible while still living, and ‘my state’ and ‘brahmabhuya’ mean becoming Brahman itself. For Ramanuja ‘sadharmya’ is likeness with the Lord, not identity, and old impressions cannot be overcome by reflective discernment alone: refuge in the Lord is needed. For Madhva the ‘great Brahman’ is prakriti in the forms of Shri, Bhu and Durga, ‘brahmabhuya’ is becoming dear to the Lord, and even the one beyond the gunas is ‘for the most part’ free of aversion and desire. Sridhara Swami unfolds the chapter in the order of Arjuna’s three questions.
These pages do not decide between the readings. Wherever the acharyas part, each position is recorded in its own terms.
About these pages
These pages hope that the three gunas will be read not as labels to stick on others but as a mirror for observing ourselves. On the pages for 14.8 and 14.13 we have made clear that the signs of tamas can sometimes be symptoms of depression or of a bodily illness. The page for 14.15 carries a caution that the verse must not be used as a judgement on children born with disability.
In this chapter the ‘For life today’ box links the gunas to everyday experience: sleep, food, tiredness, the habit of putting things off, gambling addiction, palliative care, and the support needed to change habits. The health notes are for general understanding only, and for personal problems a doctor’s advice is what counts.
Sources: several.