CHAPTER 14 — GUṆATRAYA VIBHĀGA YOGA

14.1

I shall once again explain to you the supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge — said the Lord Divine,by knowing which, all the great saints attained the highest perfection, O Arjun, dear friend of Mine.

14.2

Those who take refuge in this wisdom will be united with Me — hear this divine resolution,they will not be reborn at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution.

14.3–4

The total material substance, called prakṛiti, is the universal womb — the nest,I impregnate it with individual souls, and thus all living beings manifest.

O son of Kunti, for all species of life that are produced — declares the Supreme Father,material nature is the womb, and I am the eternal seed-giving Father.

14.5

O mighty-armed Arjun, material nature consists of three modes — goodness, passion and ignorance,these modes bind the eternal soul to the perishable body and material existence.

14.6

Amongst these, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating and full of well-being,O sinless one, it binds the soul through attachment to knowledge and the happiness it is experiencing.

14.7

Rajo guṇa arises from worldly desires and attachment and is of the nature of passion,O Arjun, the mode of rajas binds the soul through attachment to fruitive action.

14.8

Tamo guṇa, born of ignorance, for embodied souls is the cause of illusion deep,O Arjun, tamas deludes all living beings through negligence, laziness and sleep.

14.9

Sattva binds the soul to happiness, while rajas toward fruitive actions does incline,and tamas, by covering wisdom, binds one to negligence and delusion of the mind.

14.10

Sometimes goodness prevails over passion and ignorance, and sometimes passion dominates goodness and ignorance,O scion of Bharat, at other times goodness and passion are overcome by the mode of ignorance.

14.11–13

When all the gates of the body are illumined by knowledge and awareness,know it to be a manifestation of sattva — the mode of goodness.

When the mode of passion predominates, O Arjun, arise greed and endless deeds,restlessness, worldly exertion, desires and ever-growing needs.

O Arjun, inertia, negligence, delusion and nescience,these are dominant signs of tamas — the mode of ignorance.

14.14–15

Those who die with predominance of sattva reach the abodes that are pure,the spotless realms of the wise and learned, elevated and secure.

Those dying with prevalence of rajas are born among people driven by fruitive activities,while those dying in the mode of ignorance take birth amongst deluded species and entities.

14.16

The fruit of actions performed in the mode of goodness is said to be pure and unalloyed,actions in passion result in pain, while those performed in ignorance yield darkness devoid.

14.17

From the mode of goodness arises knowledge, while greed arises from passion,from the mode of ignorance arise negligence, delusion and nescience — says the Supreme Divine.

14.18

Those in the mode of goodness rise upward, while those in passion stay in the middle,those immersed in ignorance descend downward, governed by the karmic riddle.

14.19

When the wise perceive that other than the three guṇas there is no agent of action,and know Me as transcendental to these guṇas, they attain My divine nature and perfection.

14.20

Transcending the three modes of material nature associated with the body brings this certainty,one becomes free from birth, death, old age and sorrow, and tastes immortality.

14.21

Arjun inquired: What are the characteristics of those who have gone beyond the three guṇas of material nature?

How do they conduct themselves, O Lord, and transcend these guṇas to attain that stature?

14.22–23

The Lord said: When illumination, activity and delusion arise, he neither hates their manifestation,nor does he long for them when they disappear — such is his state of transcendence and liberation.

Seated like an impartial witness, by the guṇas he remains undisturbed and still,knowing, “It is merely the guṇas that operate,” he stays established, steady in will.

14.24–25

Those established in the self remain alike in happiness and distress,and see a clod, a stone and gold alike, without attachment or possessiveness.

They remain the same amidst events both pleasant and unpleasant,and accept both blame and praise with equanimity, steady and resilient.

They remain alike in honor and dishonor,and treat both friend and foe in the same manner.

Renouncing all selfish material undertakings and established in transcendence,they are said to have risen above the three guṇas in essence.

14.26

Those who serve Me with unwavering, unalloyed devotion rise above the three modes of material nature,says Lord Shree Krishna; becoming fit for realization of Brahman, they attain the transcendental stature.

14.27

I am indeed the basis of Brahman, immortal and imperishable,the foundation of eternal dharma and divine bliss immeasurable.