BHAGVAD GITA
Chapter 14: Three Gunas of Nature
Lord Krishna said: I shall further
explain to you the supreme knowledge, the best of all knowledge, knowing which
all the sages have attained supreme perfection after this life. (14.01)
Those who have taken shelter in
this knowledge attain unity with Me, and are neither born at the time of
creation nor suffer at the time of cosmic destruction of the universe. (14.02)
O Arjuna, My Prakriti or the
material nature is the womb wherein I place the seed of spirit or Purusha from
which all beings are born. (14.03)
Whatever forms are produced in all
different wombs, O Arjuna, Prakriti is their body-giving mother, and the
Purusha is the seed or life-giving father. (14.04)
Sattva or goodness, Rajas or
activity, and Tamas or inertia; these three Gunas of mind bind the eternal soul
to the body, O Arjuna. (14.05)
Of these, Sattva, being calm, is
enlightening and ethical. It binds Jeevatma by attachment to happiness and
knowledge. (14.06)
Rajas is characterized by intense
selfish activity and is born of desire and attachment. It binds the Jeeva by
attachment to the fruits of work. (14.07)
Tamas, born of inertia, confuses
Jeeva. It binds by ignorance, laziness, and excessive sleep. (14.08)
Sattva attaches one to happiness,
Rajas to action, and Tamas to ignorance by covering the knowledge. (14.09)
Sattva dominates by suppressing
Rajas and Tamas; Rajas dominates by suppressing Sattva and Tamas; and Tamas
dominates by suppressing Sattva and Rajas, O Arjuna. (14.10)
When the lamp of knowledge shines
and purifies all the organs of our body, then it should be known that Sattva is
predominant. (14.11)
Greed, activity, restlessness,
passion, and undertaking of selfish deeds takes place when Rajas is
predominant, O Arjuna. (14.12)
Ignorance, inactivity, carelessness,
and confusion are born when Tamas is predominant, O Arjuna. (14.13)
One who dies during the dominance
of Sattva goes to heaven, the pure world of the knowers of Supreme. (14.14)
When one dies during the dominance
of Rajas, one is reborn as attached to action; and dying in Tamas, one is
reborn as ignorant or as lower creatures. (14.15)
The fruit of good action is said
to be Sattvika and pure, the fruit of Rajasika action is pain, and the fruit of
Tamasika action is ignorance. (14.16)
Knowledge arises from Sattva;
desires arise from Rajas; and carelessness, confusion, and ignorance arise from
Tamas. (14.17)
Those who are established in
Sattva go to heaven; Rajasika persons are reborn in the mortal world; and the
Tamasika persons, abiding in the lowest Guna, go to hell or are born as lower
creatures. (14.18)
When one perceive no doer other
than the power of the Gunas; and know
the Supreme which is above and beyond the Gunas; then a person attains
nirvana. (14.19)
When one rises above the three
Gunas that originate in the mind; one is freed from birth, old age, disease,
and death; and attains nirvana. (14.20)
Arjuna said: What are the marks of
those who have risen above the three Gunas, and what is their conduct? How does
one rise above these three Gunas, O Lord Krishna? (14.21)
Lord Krishna said: One who neither
hates the presence of enlightenment, activity, and confusion nor desires for
them when they are absent; and (14.22)
The one who remains like a
witness; who is not moved by the play of Gunas, thinking that the Gunas only
are operating; who is firm and does not waver; and (14.23)
The one who depends on the Lord
and is indifferent to pain and pleasure; to whom a clod, a stone, and gold are
alike; to whom the dear and the unfriendly are alike; who is of firm mind; who
is calm in criticism and in praise; and (14.24)
The one who is indifferent to
honor and disgrace; who is the same to friend and foe; who has given up the
sense of doership; such a person is said to have risen above the Gunas. (14.25)
The one, who offers service to Me
with love and unshakable devotion, rises above the Gunas and becomes fit for
God-realization. (14.26)
Because, I am the basis of the
immortal and eternal Brahman, of everlasting Dharma, and of the absolute bliss.
(14.27)
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