The Three Gunas

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

śrībhagavānuvāca |

Lord Krishna declares He will again share the supreme knowledge, the highest of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages have attained the highest perfection from this world.

इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागताः |

idaṃ jñānamupāśritya mama sādharmyamāgatāḥ |

Those who take refuge in this knowledge attain a nature similar to Mine. They are neither born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution.

मम योनिर्महद्ब्रह्म तस्मिन्गर्भं दधाम्यहम् |

mama yonirmahadbrahma tasmingarbhaṃ dadhāmyaham |

The great Brahman (prakriti, material nature) is My womb. In that I place the seed. From that, O Bharata, comes the birth of all beings.

सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः |

sarvayoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ |

Whatever forms are produced in all wombs, O Kaunteya, the great Brahman (prakriti) is their womb, and I am the seed-giving father.

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः |

sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisambhavāḥ |

Sattva, rajas, and tamas — these three gunas born of prakriti bind the imperishable embodied soul to the body, O mighty-armed Arjuna.

तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम् |

tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvātprakāśakamanāmayam |

Among these, sattva, being pure, is illuminating and free from disease. It binds through attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge, O sinless one.

रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् |

rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇāsaṅgasamudbhavam |

Know rajas to be of the nature of passion, the source of craving and attachment. It binds the embodied soul through attachment to action, O Kaunteya.

तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम् |

tamastvajñānajaṃ viddhi mohanaṃ sarvadehinām |

Know tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings. It binds through negligence, laziness, and sleep, O Bharata.

सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत |

sattvaṃ sukhe sañjayati rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata |

Sattva attaches one to happiness, rajas to action, O Bharata, while tamas, veiling knowledge, attaches one to negligence.

रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत |

rajastamaścābhibhūya sattvaṃ bhavati bhārata |

Sometimes sattva prevails, overpowering rajas and tamas, O Bharata. Sometimes rajas prevails, overpowering sattva and tamas. And sometimes tamas prevails, overpowering sattva and rajas.

सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते |

sarvadvāreṣu dehe'sminprakāśa upajāyate |

When through every gate (sense) of the body the light of knowledge shines forth, then one should know that sattva has increased.

लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा |

lobhaḥ pravṛttirārambhaḥ karmaṇāmaśamaḥ spṛhā |

Greed, restless activity, the undertaking of actions, restlessness, and longing — these arise when rajas increases, O best of the Bharatas.

अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश्च प्रमादो मोह एव च |

aprakāśo'pravṛttiśca pramādo moha eva ca |

Darkness, inactivity, negligence, and delusion — these arise when tamas increases, O son of the Kurus.

यदा सत्त्वे प्रवृद्धे तु प्रलयं याति देहभृत् |

yadā sattve pravṛddhe tu pralayaṃ yāti dehabhṛt |

If the embodied soul meets death when sattva is predominant, then it attains the pure worlds of those who know the highest.

रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते |

rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate |

Dying in rajas, one is born among those attached to action. Dying in tamas, one is born in the wombs of the deluded.

कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् |

karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṃ nirmalaṃ phalam |

The fruit of sattvic action is said to be pure and without sorrow. The fruit of rajasic action is pain. The fruit of tamasic action is ignorance.

सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च |

sattvātsañjāyate jñānaṃ rajaso lobha eva ca |

From sattva arises knowledge; from rajas, greed; from tamas arise negligence, delusion, and also ignorance.

ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः |

ūrdhvaṃ gacchanti sattvasthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ |

Those established in sattva go upward; the rajasic dwell in the middle; the tamasic, abiding in the function of the lowest guna, go downward.

नान्यं गुणेभ्यः कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति |

nānyaṃ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṃ yadā draṣṭānupaśyati |

When the seer perceives no doer other than the gunas and knows That which is beyond the gunas, he attains My nature.

गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान् |

guṇānetānatītya trīndehī dehasamudbhavān |

The embodied soul, transcending these three gunas which are the source of the body, is freed from birth, death, old age, and sorrow, and attains immortality.

अर्जुन उवाच |

arjuna uvāca |

Arjuna said: By what marks is one known who has transcended these three gunas, O Lord? What is their conduct, and how do they pass beyond these three gunas?

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

śrībhagavānuvāca |

The Blessed Lord said: One who does not hate illumination, activity, or delusion when they arise, O Pandava, nor longs for them when they cease.

उदासीनवदासीनो गुणैर्यो न विचाल्यते |

udāsīnavadāsīno guṇairyo na vicālyate |

One who sits like a witness, undisturbed by the gunas, knowing that the gunas alone act — who remains steady and does not waver.

समदुःखसुखः स्वस्थः समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः |

samaduḥkhasukhaḥ svasthaḥ samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ |

Equal in pleasure and pain, self-contained, regarding a lump of earth, a stone, and gold as equal; the same toward the pleasant and unpleasant, steady, equal in blame and self-praise.

मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः |

mānāpamānayostulyastulyo mitrāripakṣayoḥ |

Equal in honor and dishonor, equal toward friend and foe, renouncing all self-initiated undertakings — such a one is said to have transcended the gunas.

मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते |

māṃ ca yo'vyabhicāreṇa bhaktiyogena sevate |

And one who serves Me with unwavering devotion, transcending these gunas, becomes fit for absorption in Brahman.

ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च |

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāhamamṛtasyāvyayasya ca |

For I am the foundation of Brahman — the immortal, the imperishable, the eternal dharma, and absolute bliss.