Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga
The Yoga Of The Three Qualities of Material Nature And Their Divisions
14:1: The Blessed One said: I will further describe the highestknowledge, the knowledge which is supreme, knowing which, all the sageshave gone forth and attained incomparable perfection.
14:2: Taking refuge in this knowledge and thereby attaining anature like My own, one is not born at the time of creation nordisturbed even at the time of the dissolution [of the materialuniverses].
14:3: From My womb, which is the great Brahman [materialnature], all living entities are conceived, impregnated and born, Odescendent of Bharata.
14:4: O child of Kunti, Brahman [material nature] is the greatwomb from which all species are born and I am the seed giving father.
14:5: The material qualities of goodness (sattva), passion (raja)and ignorance (tamas) are born of material nature. O mighty armed one,they bind the imperishable embodied being to the body.
14:6: Of these, the quality of sattva (goodness), due to itspurity, is luminous and healthy. It binds, O sinless one, throughattachment to happiness and knowledge.
14:7: Know the quality of raja (passion), which is composed ofdesires born of thirst and attachment, to bind the embodied being who isattached to fruitive activities, O son of Kunti.
14:8: Know the quality of tamas (ignorance), which is born ofignorance, to delude all embodied beings. It binds them throughnegligence, apathy and sleep, O descendent of Bharata.
14:9: The quality of sattva binds one to happiness, the qualityof raja to fruitive activities, and the quality of tamas envelopesknowledge and binds one to negligence, O descendent of Bharata.
14:10: Sometimes the quality of goodness overpowers the qualitiesof passion and ignorance, O descendent of Bharata. At other times thequality of passion surpasses goodness and ignorance, while at yet othertimes ignorance excels goodness and passion.
14:11: When every gate in the body is illuminated by the birth ofknowledge, know thereby that the quality of goodness (sattva) hasincreased.
14:12: Greed, activity, endeavoring, mischief and desiring, theseare the manifestations of the augmented quality of passion (raja), Obest of the Bharatas.
14:13: Darkness, inactivity, negligence and delusion, these arethe manifestations of the augmented quality of ignorance (tamas), Ochild of Kuru.
14:14: If the embodied living entity dies with the quality ofgoodness predominating, he/she attains the undefiled worlds of those whoknow the supreme.
14:15: One who dies in the quality of passion is born in theassociation of fruitive workers. Those dying in the quality of ignorancetake birth in the wombs of fools.
14:16: Pious activities are said to be the pure fruit of sattva,suffering is the fruit of raja and ignorance is the fruit of tamas.
14:17: From the quality of goodness knowledge is born, from thequality of passion comes greed and from the quality of ignorancenegligence, delusion and ignorance are born.
14:18: Those who abide in the quality of goodness are elevated,those who abide in the quality of passion dwell in the middle and thosewho abide in the quality of ignorance, the basest of all materialqualities, are degraded.
14:19: When the seer beholds no other doer of activities thanthese qualities of material nature, and knows My nature to be superiorto these material qualities, that seer attains Me.
14:20: Crossing beyond these three qualities, which are producedfrom the body, the embodied entity is freed from birth, death, old ageand affliction and attains the nectar of immortality.
14:21: Arjuna inquired: O my God, what are the distinguishingmarks of one who has transcended the three qualities of material nature?How does such a person act? How does one transcend the three gunas?
14:22-25: The Blessed One replied: O son of Pandu, one who doesnot hate illumination, engagements and delusion when commencing, nordesires them when concluding,
Who lives detached, yet remains firm in the presence of the gunas, whois not deviated by them and who continues to function without beingskaken,
Who is equipoised in suffering and happiness, who abides in the Self,who views a lump of dirt, a stone and gold equally, who is equal tofriends and foes alike, who is sober and dispassionate in the face ofreproach or personal praise,
Who is objective in honor and dishonor, who is equitable to friends andfoes, and who renounces all undertakings - such a one is said to havetranscended the qualities of material nature.
14:26: One who is steady in bhakti-yoga and serves Me and whocrosses beyond the qualities [of material nature] is fit for attainingbrahman realization.
14:27: I am the abode of the immortal and immutable Brahman: thesource of eternal religious and moral duties which bestow absolutehappiness.
Here Ends Chapter Fourteen
Go to: Chapter Fifteen.
Go to: Notes and References.
Go to: Cover Page.
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