Lord Krishna said: I shall explain to you again the highest of all kinds of knowledge, on actualizing which, all ascetics have reached the state of supreme fulfilment.

Unlike the previous chapter, beginning with six questions from Arjuna, this commences with Krishna himself promising to disclose the supreme wisdom that can lead seekers to fulfilment. Knowledge alone bestows spiritual perfection, by purifying and refining the mind and intelligence. This is a point seekers should not miss. Whatever be the initial practice, the ultimate spiritual fulfilment can come only through doubtless knowledge. Ignorance can be removed only by knowledge. By extolling what he is going to say, Krishna is inspiring Arjuna to hear with more attention.

By taking refuge in this wisdom, many have come to My state (finding identity with Me). They do not get born at the time of creation, nor get afflicted during dissolution.

Krishna says the knowledge he will impart has the potential to save the seeker from the entire cycle of Nature and all consequent torments. “My state” refers to Purusha, the Soul of everyone, ever free, distinct from Prakṛti. As birth, growth and death of living beings transpire, the manifest creation also evolves, grows and expands to the present state of infinite variety and magnitude. In time, it will also be dissolved. Again it will spring up. All this is due to Purusha, the Soul, who remains free, unaffected by anything happening in Nature. So, when one identifies his ‘I’ with the supreme Purusha, he too remains unaffected by what is happening in the micro-level as well as the macro-level. The freedom gained transcends dissolution and evolution of the world. That is all due to the grace of wisdom Arjuna will imbibe now. “So be attentive” – implies Krishna.

Mahat Brahma (Nature) is my great womb. There I cast my seed, and hence follows the birth of all beings.

Krishna gives a new connotation for the birth and prevalence of Nature. The whole Nature is not just an aggregate of matter and energy. Like anything born of a womb, the creation also has its limbs with their respective powers and potentials. There is a presence, power, besides matter and energy, which impregnates the womb of Nature and brings forth the amazing variety of creation. All beings are born like this from the great womb of Nature. Different beings, born of water, earth and air, have emerged like this. In each species, there is amazing variety, revealing a great order, sequence. The human is the foremost of them all. Krishna strikes a new note here in describing himself (because of his identity with the Supreme) as the progenitor of the whole Creation.

For whatever forms are born of individual wombs, O Kaunteya (Arjuna), the one great womb is Brahma (in Its active aspect, meaning Nature). And I am the Father who casts the seed.

Parent-child relationship is well known to people, very easy to grasp and understand. Krishna brings it as an analogy to explain how all beings are equally related to the Supreme closely and directly. There are infinite varieties of living and non-living entities on earth. All of them have only one Father, the Supreme. Without the Supreme “casting its seed” in the respective wombs, nothing will be born; no manifestation will be possible. All beings have thus a direct and equal connection with the Supreme. Is this fact not sufficient for everyone to live and move confidently in the world? Whatever takes place in the world, the individual human should remain unaffected and free, reflecting upon the Supreme, who is at the root of the whole Creation. Ultimately no causality need be attributed to anything any time, in respect of any event or occurrence. Behind everything is the hand of the Supreme. Knowing this, be free and full!

The three guṇas (qualities, strands), namely sattva, rajas and tamas, belong to Nature. They strongly bind the imperishable embodied being to the body, O mighty-armed (Arjuna).

The quality or characteristic of anything is not separate from it, as are heat and brilliance from fire, flowingness that despite the distinctness of each, all guṇas bind the mind and intelligence. This bondage is spiritual, not physical. In making every one undergo the effects of Prakṛti, guṇas alone are the cause. Krishna first spoke about guṇas in the 2nd chapter (2.45). In the 3rd chapter he showed their indispensability in one's life (3.5, 27, 28, 29). In the 4th, he showed how the guṇas display a fulfilling role in preserving the society with cohesion (4.13). Again in chapter 7, he revealed how the guṇas have their overpowering note (7.12, 13, 14). In chapter 13, Krishna brings in their inevitable place and importance in conjunction with Purusha (13.20 - 22). In fact, Bhagavad Gita is an exposition of the guṇa-traya philosophy.

Of these, sattva guṇa by dint of its immaculate nature, is the cause of light (knowledge) and harmony. But, O sinless Arjuna, it binds one by causing saṅga (clinging) to happiness and knowledge.

Each guṇa has its distinct property. In fact, only through its property, we can identify the guṇa. Krishna emphasizes that despite the distinctness of each, all guṇas bind the mind and intelligence. This bondage is spiritual, not physical. Sattva-guṇa is the cause of light and harmony, but it causes a strong addiction to happiness and knowledge. Through that the sattva-guṇa creates bondage for the embodied soul. Any clinging or attachment is an obstacle in the path of spiritual perfection and freedom. All experiences ultimately involve the mind and intelligence. They can lead to a variety of emotions. The one identified as immaculate happiness is rooted in sattva-guṇa. In fact, we can discern sattva-guṇa only through sāttvika happiness (18.37) and sāttvika knowledge (18.20) it results in.

Know rajo-guṇa to be in the nature of desire and passion. It springs from greed and delusional clinging. It binds one (the embodied being), O son of Kunti, through clinging to ceaseless activity.

Sattva-guṇa alone will not be able to constitute life and living. It needs the close partnership with rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. All the three go together, co-exist and co-function. In fact, there is nothing like a unitary existence or expression. Everything is junctional. Hunger is felt in the stomach. But the need and desire to eat spring from rajo-guṇa. Rajo-guṇa also causes a variety of tastes for food items. Thus, desire is the cause motivating one to various kinds of activity. But for rajo-guṇa, everything will be in a standstill in the world. It is through rajo-guṇa that Nature keeps everyone active ceaselessly. There is nothing stationary in Nature. Each guṇa thus has its place of distinction as well as role. Like sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa also causes bondage. It is through the urge for being active and the need to resort to various activities throughout the day, being motivated by various desires.

O Bhārata, know that tamo-guṇa, deluding all alike, is born of ignorance. It binds the embodied beings through inattention, lethargy and sleep.

Sattva-guṇa provides happiness and knowledge. Rajo-guṇa enables activities. The cycle of life is not complete without tamo-guṇa. The three together constitute complex Nature, governing the world and the beings within it. The role of tamo-guṇa is to supplement sattva and rajas, by providing the antidote for both. If sattva instils knowledge and happiness, tamo-guṇa brings recession from these, by generating lethargy, sleep and ignorance. Lethargy and sleep intercept the stream of activity. Hence none can remain active for long. Every one needs a period of rest and sleep, a counter to wakefulness. What a complementary role is that of tamo-guṇa! As hunger enables tasty food and appeasement, fatigue and subsequent rest facilitate recuperation and further activity. Like other two guṇas, tamo-guṇa also binds. It binds by undue clinging to sleep, rest and inattention. The three guṇas together make life, activity and experience.

Sattva binds one by comfort and happiness, rajas by activity, O Bhārata. Covering knowledge, tamas binds one by carelessness or inattention.

Existence and expression, to be complete and vibrant, need to be complex. That is how the three guṇas are there as an inspiring and mutually balancing combination. Due to sattva-guṇa, one is able to gain happiness, delight, which all relish. But existence will not be full and desirable, if not accompanied by the other two guṇas. Thus rajas has the effect of engaging one in activity, by which the energy provided by food and nourishment is utilized and exhausted. Activity is indispensable for anything to exist. Rajas produces desires in the mind and impels one to act to fulfil the desires. Equally so is tamo-guṇa's role. Ignorance caused by tamo-guṇa provides the possibility and need to learn and gain knowledge. Imagine how many branches of knowledge and research we have! How desirable it is to strive for knowledge and grow! Similarly, how important is sleep to become active again!

O Bhārata, (sometimes) sattva prevails dominating over rajas and tamas; (sometimes) rajas rules over sattva and tamas; (and again) tamas overwhelms sattva and rajas.

In every one, all the three guṇas are there. But their proportions will be different, and they will vary with time. Our intention is to enhance sattva, giving it the leading position, and to that extent reduce rajas and tamas. But presence and participation of all the three are indispensable. Given the right persuasion and effort, each guṇa has the potential to enhance its measure, overwhelming the other two. Thus sattva can be predominant, making rajas and tamas subservient. The same way, rajo-guṇa can overwhelm tamas and sattva, and tamo-guṇa can dominate rajas and sattva. In fact, Nature preserves four distinct groups of tendencies in this manner. Krishna has already defined (4.13) these four categories, which enable the society to be cohesive and efficient, each complementing the rest. For a spiritual seeker, sattva-guṇa should be on the ascendance. That alone will enrich the individual and society alike.

When the brilliance of knowledge adorns all the sense organs in the body, then know it definitely to be the sublime effect of enhanced sattva-guṇa.

This is a very revealing statement. Sattva, rajas and tamas, though spiritual qualities, can be quite evident and experiential from the effects they produce, says Krishna. The biological nature of the body will also change subtly, though we do not have the means to measure it properly. Krishna says the brilliance of sensory organs will begin to improve, when the proportion of sattva increases. Sub-humans are always subject to their specific guṇa combination for the whole life; but humans have the freedom to opt for and bring about changes in their guṇa proportions. In fact, is this not what transpired in Arjuna? Everything looked gloomy and he wanted to retreat from war. He was under the grip of tamas. On hearing Krishna and getting illumined, how well he changes his attitude and resolve under the influence of sattva-guṇa! He assimilates the knowledge and becomes inspired to fight - a clear example of effective instant transformation!

When rajo-guṇa increases, greed, extrovert drive, enterprise, unceasing involvement in actions, unabating desire – all these arise, O best of Bharatas (Arjuna).

Krishna next describes what happens when rajo-guṇa is on the rise. With rajas, intense involvement in activities and corresponding motivations take over. Desire, greed, drive or fascination supporting incessant involvement in activities also become strong. In short, for the rājasa individual, everything revolves around ceaseless desire-motivated activity. Rājasa domination will not allow any kind of introspection aimed at gaining spiritual wisdom, or a contemplative life given to studying and evaluating the world as well as our interactions in it. Lingering taste for activities blinds the individual, so much so that he cannot think of any need for basic analysis of matters. He will not develop discrimination or be led by it. As pointed earlier, this kind of guṇa-traya analysis is a unique philosophy Krishna presents throughout the dialogue, to make our pursuit practicable.

Lack of brilliance, inertia or apathy towards activity, inattention as well as delusion – these arise when tamas is enhanced, O Kurunandana (Arjuna).

As sattva and rajas have their persuasions, tamas too has its - opposed to sattva and rajas, but complementary to their balanced function. Against sattva's knowledge, tamas induces ignorance and darkness, and tries to subdue the intelligence and understanding. Against rajas, tamas enhances inertia or lethargy. Again, contrary to sāttvika qualities, tamas brings inattention in both perception and performance. It hinders right knowledge and response. Tamas characteristically distorts and deludes, preventing right comprehension and devout involvement. Krishna makes it clear that all these are instigations and persuasions of tamo-guṇa, coexisting with rajas and sattva, like friction with movement. Neither rajas nor sattva will reign without tamas. Together alone the three make a viable whole, enabling the individual to be wise and moderately active, ensuring sufficient health, interest and dedication.

When the embodied one attains to die with sattva in predominance, then he attains the pure regions meant for the most learned ones.

The effect of predominance of each guṇa is not only while one is living upon the earth, but also extends to the period following the fall of his body. As is life pleasant and unpleasant here, so it will be after one drops his body. What lives is not the body, but the embodied soul. Dropping the body, the jeeva continues to reign. Where, becomes the instant question. The answer is that it will be in good, lofty and pleasant regions or their opposites. Sattva-guṇa, if dominant, ensures that after the body falls, the one living in it, will get his tenure in the best, holy, comfortable regions, where the best of learned people go. Sattva's influence and rewards do not exhaust with the so called 'death', but continue to grace the jeeva.

By courting death when rajas is predominant, one is born among those who cling to activities. And dying while tamas dominates, one is born in deluded and ignorant wombs.

Just in one śloka, Krishna disposes of the post-death fates rajas and tamas bring about. This is so, because everyone's choice must be to enhance sattva as much and as soon as possible. All our spiritual learning is to ensure this. Sattva alone has salutary and beneficial effects. Reducing rajas and tamas, everyone should strive to enhance sattva. On leaving the world when rajas is dominant, Krishna says, one gets born among those passionately given to sensory, worldly activities. They make no effort to know and reflect upon the higher spiritual aspects of life. The loss and waste are colossal. But the rājasa people have no concern for such a plight. The case with tamas-dominance is the worst. Ignorance and delusion overpower such people. Dying during its prevalence, one gets born among the foolish and deluded, to court again the worst outcomes.

The result of good or noble action is said to be sāttvika and pure. Of rājasa-action, the result is affliction, and of tāmasa-action, is ignorance (and delusion).

Krishna enumerates the spiritual laws under which sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa persuasions lead our actions to their respective fruitions. These are as true and effective as the physical and chemical laws of nature. Good and noble actions, involving no harm to anyone, beneficial to the society, fetch sāttvika results, namely peace, contentment and inner expansion. Everyone should aim at and strive to enhance sattva. Rājasa actions are motivated by selfish desires and partial vision. These, invariably lacking thoughts of comprehensive well-being, inflict harm on others, and are detrimental to the society. Born of selfishness and greed, they ultimately bring affliction and torment to the performer also. Tāmasa actions are steeped in ignorance and delusion. Tamas-domination does not allow one to think about the inner spiritual presence and its grandeur. Ignorantly one lives a sensory, material and outward life, often decrying the value of spiritual pursuit.

From sattva-guna is born knowledge, wisdom. From rajas arises greed. Inattention and delusion, coupled with ignorance, result from tamas.

From sattva-guna is born knowledge, wisdom. Rajas arises greed. Inattention and delusion, coupled with ignorance, result from tamas. Krishna is describing the effect of each guna briefly. To whatever he has stated already, Krishna adds that sattva alone instils knowledge. Rajas stirs up all kinds of desires and emotional preferences. Greed is a common trait rajas produces. It dominates almost all. On getting intensified, it can lead to any extent of assault and vehemence. Tamas envelops one’s mind and intelligence with ignorance, delusion. The plight makes the victim refuse to listen to any comment or advice. He believes and insists that he alone is correct. He is averse to any kind of input from anyone. Tāmasa delusion is too hard to drop or overcome. Imagine the plight under the spell of guṇas! But sattva, however, has a loving hand of relief and hope for the earnest seekers!

Sāttvika people go upwards, rājasa ones remain in the middle, while the tāmasa people, given to lowest tendencies and activities, go downwards.

Sāttvika people go upwards, rājasa ones remain in the middle, while the tāmasa people, given to lowest tendencies and activities, go downwards. Krishna makes a chart of the three guṇas enumerating their rewards or punishments. Holy actions have undoubtedly their elevating effect on the actor, the performer. Thus sattva-guṇa and its impulsions lead the performers to the higher holy realms, as revealed in the Vedas and allied scriptures. Those given to rājasa activities will be led by their effects. This will make them meander in the same plane as they are now, the sensory world of attractions and repulsions, to be undergoing the same rājasa compulsions again. It will be a revolving fate without any progression or evolution. Different from both, the tāmasa propulsions will take the actors to the still lower levels of life. Human life has the unique merits of thinking, discriminating and elevating itself. But all this is clearly denied in the tāmasa level. It is virtually a fall to abysmal levels, most pitiable in every way!

When the seer does not see any doer besides the guṇas, and also perceives That which transcends the guṇas, then he attains My state (attains the Supreme).

When the seer does not see any doer besides the guṇas, and also perceives That which transcends the guṇas, then he attains My state (attains the Supreme). This is a fundamental statement. It contains all spiritual instructions to gain liberation. It also defines the right perception about the world. Nature propels all activities through its guṇas. This is the message Krishna conveyed right in the 3rd chapter. Be guided accordingly. Do not condemn any activity. Instead, ascribe it unreservedly to Prakṛti. But guṇas work around a pivot, which they cannot touch at all. While all actions are from Nature, the inmost presence is above the guṇas. See everyone as that pivotal presence, the Soul. You will then have no occasion to blame or condemn anyone or anything. Drop all preferences and prejudices, and be free inwardly. The means for this is the two-fold spiritual wisdom: Guṇas are Nature's, and the Soul is transcendental, unaffected by Nature's activities. One with this perception attains the Supreme, says Krishna.

By transcending these three guṇas, which give rise to embodiment, one gets freed from the torments of birth, death and decrepitude, and enjoys the bliss of immortality.

By transcending these three guṇas, which give rise to embodiment, one gets freed from the torments of birth, death and decrepitude, and enjoys the bliss of immortality. Krishna spoke so far about Nature’s three guṇas, individually as well as collectively, instilling emotional and intellectual outcomes like joy, greed, possessiveness as also knowledge and brilliance. All the three guṇas together bind the human. Krishna now points specifically that despite all these binding effects, there is a way of outliving them all and gaining the ecstasy of freedom, letting the guṇas have their role intact. This inner, spiritual transcendence of guṇas is the unique gift of spiritual wisdom. One has to think deeply and recognize his inner spiritual potential as well as the possibilities extended before him. Krishna says spiritual freedom enables one to let Prakṛti display its guṇas, while still being what he really is – the supreme unconditioned Self!

Arjuna said: O Lord, what are the characteristics of a person, which make him transcend these three guṇas? How does he behave, and by what pursuit does he rise above these three guṇas?

Arjuna is sensitive enough to raise a pertinent question here, like what he did in the 2nd chapter (2.54) on hearing Krishna declare when a seeker attains yoga (2.53). Then Arjuna enquired about sthita-prajña and sthita-dhee, which led to a very subtle discussion in spiritual exposition. Krishna's reply there marks a very special portion in the Gita dialogue. Here too Arjuna comes up with such a relevant question. He seeks to know what are the characteristics of a person who transcends the bondages created by the three guṇas, and by what means and practices, can one rise above the hold of the three guṇas. He wants Krishna to detail these special features and practices. Is there any special discipline to be observed or insights to be gained and pursued for the purpose? Despite Prakṛti exercising its guṇa-effects, how can one become free?

Lord Krishna said: O Pandava, he who does not resent the rise of either (sattva's) brilliance, or (rajas's) activity or (tamas's) delusion, and also does not yearn for the subsidence of any of them;

For short and long durations, even within a day, the guṇa-alternation will be pronounced. That is how we remain wakeful for many hours, only to fall asleep thereafter, to wake up again as before. Wakefulness is a creation of sattva, sleep of tamas and dream of rajas. When thus all the guṇas display their dominance and subsidence, one should neither feel elated nor resentful. Like sukha and duḥkha, explained in the 2nd chapter (2.14), guṇas and their effects will also be surfacing and subsiding. Allow the cycle to be. Feel harmonious with the ascent and descent alike. Enriched by moderation, the Knower should remain stable and full inwardly!

He who remains seated in lofty indifference, not shaken by the interplay of guṇas; and who remains stable and unwavering understanding that guṇas alone are operating;

Krishna emphasizes the quality and excellence of spiritual indifference. This enlightened and refined quality helps and guides the Knower to remain poised in any situation. The Knower abides in his body, fully indifferent to the natural plights and transitions the body undergoes. As ignorance and delusion destabilize the mind and intelligence, so do knowledge and clarity imbue them with stability and poise. Mind and intelligence are susceptible to both facets. The entire Creation is but a manifestation of Prakṛti's guṇas. Even creation, preservation and dissolution are a handiwork of guṇas themselves. The individual guṇas have their place and purpose only within the universal guṇa-display. The Knower has a clear perception of this. What the seeker needs to gain is a full insight about this and the resulting sublime note of indifference!

(He who) remains equipoised in sorrow and happiness, rests firmly in oneself, considers a clod of earth, stone and a piece of gold with equal importance, is evenly disposed towards the desirable and detestable, poised (dhīraḥ), accepting praise and blame alike;

Krishna brings in his pet concept of evenness and poise, emphasized abundantly right from the 2nd chapter. Samatva is the watchword of Bhagavad Gita and yoga alike! Sukha and duḥkha are the only two resultants of our interactional life and wakeful state. Our senses interacting with their objects repeatedly bring these about. Sukha-duḥkha arrival and retreat are natural, inevitable. Duḥkha brings sukha, and sukha fetches duḥkha. What is there more preferable then in either? When this kind of evaluation and enrichment embraces the mind, sukha-duḥkhas lose their unsettling impact. And the seeker rises to a higher level of evenness and poise. The enrichment extends to all other dvandvas like desirable-undesirable, praise-blame, and also to substances like gold, earth and stone, each of which has its own place in Nature. What an ineffable effulgence, relief and fullness does this vision bestow!

He who is even towards honour and dishonour, impartial towards friends and enemies, and has renounced all sense of undertaking, is said to have transcended the guṇas.

Krishna is specifying the characteristics of the guṇa-atīta, who transcends the binding effects of guṇas. However much the three guṇas play in him, he has the intrinsic potential to remain unaffected, by resting on the transcendental Self - the pivot of the guṇa circle. Krishna explains this inner science, in terms of the practical pursuit to be adopted towards one’s life, the world around and interactions between the two. One who actualizes this will transcend the guṇas, to be peaceful and fulfilled. Everyone interacts in residential, professional and societal fronts, meeting pairs of opposites regularly. Some may honour him, while others may dishonour. There will be friends around, also non-friends, each treating him in his own way. To let in and let go everything is the path of spiritual perfection. No ego is to be fostered about anything one does, and no possessiveness about anything he has. Without ego, whatever is good and beneficial can be done wholeheartedly. Life becomes easy, natural and fulfilling.

Also, whoever worships Me (the Supreme) with unswerving devotion, transcends these guṇas very well, and is fit to become Brahman.

The guṇa-atīta philosophy is an enlightened way of looking at the complex Creation comprehensively, thereby learning to be unaffected in any situation. The Knower accepts everything in this complexity, by cultivating abiding harmony in himself. But, all may not be able to take to such a path of reconciliation and integration. Emotional pulls and rational persuasions are too hard to sublimate. At the same time, people do have a flair for devotion towards the supreme Reality and want to grow under it fondly. Where will such devotional path lead one to, especially compared to the guṇa-atīta path? Krishna answers this beautifully. If the devotee is steadfast and un-desultory in his devotional approach, reliance and refuge, then that will itself take him to freedom from the triple guṇas and their binding effects, as explained elaborately in the preceding verses. He will become fit to realize Brahman.

I am the abode of immortal and immutable Brahman; also of eternal dharma, as well as of ultimate happiness.

Supreme Reality is indeed the abode of Brahman, the Immortal and Immutable. It is also the source of eternal dharma and absolute happiness. Being so, unflinching devotion to the Supreme is itself a full means to attain the Imperishable as well as absolute bliss. Any dharma or pursuit becomes eternal when it takes its practitioner to the ‘eternal’. Our dharma is eternal, because it is based upon the eternal truth, the imperishable Soul that animates and activates the body. To understand such a Soul, to realize immortality, is virtually to become the immortal Brahman indeed. Soul is Imperishable. You are the Soul, hence Imperishable. This is the teaching and practice of our dharma. For devotion or wisdom, the end is the same.