Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 14: Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga
The Yoga of the Division of the Three Gunas - Krishna explains the three gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas) that constitute all of nature and how to transcend them.
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Chapter 14: Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga - The Three Gunas
Krishna reveals the three gunas - sattva (purity), rajas (passion), and tamas (darkness) - which constitute all of nature and determine human personality and experience.
The Three Gunas
- Sattva - pure, luminous, free from affliction. It binds through attachment to happiness and knowledge.
- Rajas - passionate, the source of attachment and thirst for action. It binds through attachment to action.
- Tamas - dark, inert, delusive. It binds through carelessness, laziness, and sleep.
Beyond the Gunas
The goal is to transcend the gunas entirely. One who goes beyond the gunas is free from birth, death, old age, and suffering. They are established in the Self, equal in pleasure and pain, and devoted to the supreme.
Key Verses
Verse 23: One who remains like a witness, undisturbed by the gunas, knowing that only the gunas act - such a one is established in the Self.
Verse 27: I am the abode of Brahman, the immortal and immutable, the eternal dharma, and the absolute bliss.