Bhagwad Gita (English) | Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The Three Modes of Material Nature

Lord Krishna explains the three fundamental qualities, or Gunas, that influence human behavior and bind the soul to the material world. These Gunas are Sattva (goodness, harmony, and purity), Rajas (passion, activity, and desire), and Tamas (ignorance, inertia, and darkness). Krishna describes how each Guna impacts a person’s actions, thoughts, and inclinations. He explains that while Sattva leads to happiness and knowledge, Rajas fosters attachment and restlessness, and Tamas promotes delusion and laziness. Krishna advises Arjuna to transcend these Gunas by practicing self-awareness and detachment, ultimately achieving liberation and union with the divine. This chapter emphasizes understanding and overcoming these qualities to free oneself from the cycle of birth and death.

Verse 1

The Blessed Lord said: Again I shall declare to you this supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages have attained to supreme perfection.

Verse 2

By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature, which is like My own nature. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution.

Verse 3

The total material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate, making possible the births of all living beings, O son of Bharata.

Verse 4

It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.

Verse 5

Material nature consists of the three modes-goodness, passion and ignorance. When the living entity comes in contact with nature, he becomes conditioned by these modes.

Verse 6

O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode develop knowledge, but they become conditioned by the concept of happiness.

Verse 7

The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, O son of Kunti, and because of this one is bound to material fruitive activities.

Verse 8

O son of Bharata, the mode of ignorance causes the delusion of all living entities. The result of this mode is madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul.

Verse 9

The mode of goodness leads to happiness, the mode of passion leads to the desire for results from one's actions, and the mode of ignorance leads to confusion and madness.

Verse 10

Sometimes the mode of passion becomes prominent, defeating the mode of goodness, O son of Bharata. And sometimes the mode of goodness defeats passion, and at other times the mode of ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy.

Verse 11

The manifestations of the mode of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illuminated by knowledge.

Verse 12

O chief of the Bharatas, when there is an increase in the mode of passion, the symptoms of great attachment, uncontrollable desire, hankering, and intense endeavor develop.

Verse 13

O son of Kuru, when there is an increase in the mode of ignorance madness, illusion, inertia and darkness are manifested.

Verse 14

When one dies in the mode of goodness, he attains to the pure higher planets.

Verse 15

When someone dies while influenced by passion, they are reborn among those who are focused on achieving results from their actions. On the other hand, if someone dies under the influence of ignorance, they are reborn in the form of animals.

Verse 16

By acting in the mode of goodness, one becomes purified. Works done in the mode of passion result in distress, and actions performed in the mode of ignorance result in foolishness.

Verse 17

From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, grief develops; and from the mode of ignorance, foolishness, madness and illusion develop.

Verse 18

Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds.

Verse 19

When you see that there is nothing beyond these modes of nature in all activities and that the Supreme Lord is transcendental to all these modes, then you can know My spiritual nature.

Verse 20

When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.

Verse 21

Arjuna asked: O my dear Lord, how can we recognize someone who has gone beyond these three modes of nature? What is their behavior like? And how do they manage to rise above these modes?

Verse 22

The Blessed Lord said, "When light, activity, and delusion are present, he does not hate them, nor does he long for them when they are absent."

Verse 23

He who, seated like one unconcerned, is not moved by the dualities, and who, knowing that the dualities are active, is self-centered and does not move.

Verse 24

Who is the same in pleasure and pain, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold are all alike, who is the same to the dear and the unfriendly, who is firm, and to whom censure and praise are one and the same.

Verse 25

Who is the same in honor and dishonor, the same to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings, he is said to have transcended the dualities.

Verse 26

One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down in any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.

Verse 27

And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness, and which is immortal, imperishable and eternal.

Chapter 14 The Three Modes of Material Nature