Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14, Verse 19

Chapter 14 – Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

नान्यं गुणेभ्यः कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति ।
गुणेभ्यश्च परं वेत्ति मद्भावं सोऽधिगच्छति ॥

Transliteration

nānyaṃ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṃ yadā draṣṭānupaśyati .
guṇebhyaśca paraṃ vetti madbhāvaṃ so.adhigacchati ॥

Meaning

When the seer beholds no agent other than the gunas and knows That which is beyond the gunas, he attains My being.

Word meanings

न – not
अन्यम् – any other
गुणेभ्यः – than the gunas
कर्तारम् – agent, doer
यदा – when
द्रष्टा – the seer, the discerning witness
अनुपश्यति – beholds
गुणेभ्यः – than the gunas
च – and
परम् – higher, beyond
वेत्ति – knows
मद्भावम् – My being, My nature
सः – he
अधिगच्छति – attains

Anvaya (word order)

यदा द्रष्टा गुणेभ्यः अन्यं कर्तारं न अनुपश्यति, गुणेभ्यः च परं वेत्ति, (तदा) सः मद्भावम् अधिगच्छति ।

Explanation

Up to now Krishna has shown how the gunas bind and where they lead. From here He turns to the way of liberation. This verse names two kinds of understanding needed to go beyond the gunas.

The first is that there is no doer other than the gunas. Body, senses, mind and intellect are all products of the gunas of prakriti, and all actions take place within them. As Chapter 3 says, all actions are performed by the gunas of nature, yet one deluded by ego thinks 'I am the doer' (3.27). The wise person gives up this misconception.

The second is that he 'knows That which is beyond the gunas'. For Shankara this is the Self, the mere witness of the gunas and their activity. Ramanuja explains it as knowledge of the Self as distinct from the gunas, and of the Supreme Lord who is its ground. The first insight alone is incomplete: merely holding that the gunas do everything, without knowing the witnessing Self, does not bring freedom.

The word drashta, 'the seer', is key. The seeker must cultivate a witnessing stance within: thoughts come and go, emotions rise and fall, the body acts, yet 'I' am the one who sees all this, not the one entangled in it. When this vision becomes firm, the seeker attains mad-bhava, the Lord's own nature.

Context

The preceding verses described the bondage and fruits of the gunas; here the means of liberation begins. The next verse states the result of this knowledge: freedom from birth, death, old age and sorrow.

Life lesson

The activities of body and mind are the play of nature's gunas, and you are their witness. Practising this witness-awareness lightens the burden of doership and brings inner freedom.

Key terms

Drashta: The seer, the witnessing Self
Karta: The doer — here, the gunas of nature
Mad-bhava: The Lord's being or nature — liberation