Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14, Verse 5

Chapter 14 – Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः ।
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥

Transliteration

sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisambhavāḥ .
nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinamavyayam ॥

Meaning

O mighty-armed one, sattva, rajas and tamas, these gunas born of nature, bind the imperishable embodied soul to the body.

Word meanings

सत्त्वम् – sattva — the quality of light and purity
रजः – rajas — the quality of activity and passion
तमः – tamas — the quality of inertia and darkness
इति – thus (these three)
गुणाः – the qualities, the gunas
प्रकृतिसम्भवाः – born of nature
निबध्नन्ति – bind fast
महाबाहो – O mighty-armed one
देहे – in the body
देहिनम् – the embodied one, the soul
अव्ययम् – imperishable, changeless

Anvaya (word order)

महाबाहो, सत्त्वं रजः तमः इति प्रकृतिसम्भवाः गुणाः अव्ययं देहिनं देहे निबध्नन्ति ।

Explanation

This verse is the root formula of the entire chapter. For the first time Krishna names the three gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas, and states what they do: they bind the imperishable soul to the perishable body.

The word guna has two meanings, 'quality' and 'rope', and both apply. The gunas are the basic qualities or forces of nature, and like ropes they tie the soul down. In Sankhya philosophy, prakriti in its unmanifest state is a balance of these three; when the balance is disturbed, creation unfolds. Everything in the world, from food and thoughts to actions and personalities, is some mixture of the three.

Krishna calls the soul avyaya, imperishable and changeless. How, then, can something changeless be bound? Shankara explains that the bondage is not real but comes from identification. A clear crystal placed beside a red flower appears red, though it never actually turns red. In the same way the changes of the gunas are superimposed on the Self. The soul takes the pleasures and pains of body and mind as its own, and that mistaken identification is bondage.

It is striking that Krishna calls all three gunas binding, not only tamas or rajas. Even sattva, which is bright and good, binds; a chain of gold is still a chain. This is one of the Gita's subtlest insights. Sattva lifts us higher, but the final goal lies beyond even sattva, in the state of being gunatita, beyond the gunas.

By addressing Arjuna as 'mighty-armed', Krishna reminds him that the strength with which he conquers outer enemies must now be turned to these subtle inner bonds. In the next verses the Lord describes each guna and the particular way it binds.

Context

The previous two verses showed that all beings are born of mother nature and the Lord as father. Now Krishna explains how nature's three qualities bind the soul once it is embodied. Verses 6 to 8 then describe sattva, rajas and tamas individually.

Life lesson

Our moods, thoughts and habits are the play of the three gunas, while we ourselves are pure consciousness beyond them. Cultivate goodness, but do not become proud of it or attached to it; the aim is to go beyond them all.

Key terms

Guna: A basic quality of nature; also 'rope', that which binds
Sattva, rajas, tamas: The qualities of light and purity, activity and passion, inertia and ignorance
Dehi: The embodied soul
Avyaya: Imperishable, free from change