Shrimad Bhagavad Gita · 27 verses
Chapter 14: The Three Qualities
The three qualities of nature, sattva, rajas and tamas, bind every person. This chapter shows how to rise above them.
All verses, with meaning
14.1The highest knowledgeKrishna says: I will tell you once more the highest knowledge, the best of all knowledge. …14.2Freedom from rebirthThose who take refuge in this knowledge and come to share My nature are not born again at …14.3The seed of creationGreat Nature (Prakriti) is My womb, and in it I place the seed. From this all living being…14.4God, the father of allWhatever forms are born in any womb, great Nature is their mother, and I am the father who…14.5Bondage of the three gunasSattva (goodness), rajas (passion) and tamas (inertia) — these three qualities born of Nat…14.6The quality of goodnessOf these, sattva is pure, bright and free from harm. Yet it too binds the soul, through at…14.7The quality of passionRajas is passion, born of craving and attachment. It binds the soul through attachment to …14.8The quality of inertiaTamas is born of ignorance and deludes all beings. It binds through carelessness, laziness…14.9What the gunas doSattva attaches one to happiness, rajas to action, while tamas covers knowledge and attach…14.10The gunas competeSometimes sattva rises by overpowering rajas and tamas; sometimes rajas rises over sattva …14.11Signs of sattvaWhen the light of knowledge shines through all the gates of the body, know that sattva has…14.12Signs of rajasWhen rajas increases, greed, constant activity, starting many ventures, restlessness and c…14.13Signs of tamasWhen tamas increases, darkness of mind, inactivity, carelessness and delusion arise.14.14Dying in sattvaIf a person dies when sattva is strong, they reach the pure worlds of those who know the h…14.15Gunas and the next birthOne who dies in rajas is born among those attached to action; one who dies in tamas is bor…14.16Fruits of the gunasThe fruit of good action is said to be pure and sattvic; the fruit of rajas is pain, and t…14.17What each guna producesFrom sattva comes knowledge, from rajas comes greed, and from tamas come negligence, delus…14.18Upward, middle, downwardThose established in sattva rise upward, those in rajas stay in the middle, and those in t…14.19Seeing beyond the gunasWhen the wise see that the gunas alone are the doers, and know That which is beyond the gu…14.20Crossing the gunasRising above these three gunas from which the body arises, the soul is freed from birth, d…14.21Arjuna's questionArjuna asks: Lord, what are the marks of one who has gone beyond the three gunas? How do t…14.22No aversion, no longingKrishna says: Such a person does not resent light, activity or delusion when they arise, n…14.23Being a witnessHe stays like a neutral witness, undisturbed by the gunas. Knowing that only the gunas are…14.24Even in all conditionsHe is the same in pleasure and pain, rests in the Self, and sees a lump of earth, a stone …14.25Marks of the guna-freeOne who is the same in honour and insult, the same to friend and foe, and who has given up…14.26Devotion crosses the gunasOne who serves Me with unwavering devotion rises above these three gunas and becomes fit t…14.27God, the basis of allFor I am the foundation of the immortal, imperishable Brahman, of eternal dharma, and of p…