The Three Qualitiesगुणत्रयविभागयोग

परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम्।
यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनयः सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गताः॥

paraṁ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṁ jñānam uttamam,
yaj jñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṁ siddhim ito gatāḥ.

Again I shall tell you the highest wisdom, the best of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages passed from here to supreme perfection.

इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागताः।
सर्गेऽपि नोपजायन्ते प्रलये न व्यथन्ति च॥

idaṁ jñānam upāśritya mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ,
sarge ‘pi nopajāyante pralaye na vyathanti ca.

Taking refuge in this wisdom, they have come to share my nature. They are not born even at the creation, nor are they troubled at the dissolution.

Live it todayRooted in true wisdom, you are not shaken when worlds change.

मम योनिर्महद्ब्रह्म तस्मिन् गर्भं दधाम्यहम्।
संभवः सर्वभूतानां ततो भवति भारत॥

mama yonir mahad brahma tasmin garbhaṁ dadhāmy aham,
saṁbhavaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ tato bhavati bhārata.

My womb is the great Brahman, primal nature; in it I place the seed. From that, O Bharata, all beings come to birth.

सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः।
तासां ब्रह्म महद्योनिरहं बीजप्रदः पिता॥

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ,
tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā.

Whatever forms are born in any womb, O son of Kunti, the great Brahman, primal nature, is their womb, and I am the father who gives the seed.

Live it todayEvery creature you meet comes from the same divine Father.

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः।
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम्॥

sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛti-saṁbhavāḥ,
nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam.

Sattva, rajas and tamas, goodness, passion and inertia: these qualities born of nature bind the imperishable soul to the body, O mighty-armed one.

तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम्।
सुखसङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ॥

tatra sattvaṁ nirmalatvāt prakāśakam anāmayam,
sukha-saṅgena badhnāti jñāna-saṅgena cānagha.

Sattva, the quality of goodness, being pure, is full of light and free from harm. Yet it binds, O sinless one, through attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge.

Live it todayEven good things become a cage when you cling to them.

रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम्।
तन्निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम्॥

rajo rāgātmakaṁ viddhi tṛṣṇā-saṅga-samudbhavam,
tan nibadhnāti kaunteya karma-saṅgena dehinam.

Know that rajas, the quality of passion, is the nature of desire, born of craving and attachment. It binds the embodied soul, O son of Kunti, through attachment to action.

Live it todayNotice when your busyness is really craving in disguise.

तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम्।
प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत॥

tamas tv ajñāna-jaṁ viddhi mohanaṁ sarva-dehinām,
pramādālasya-nidrābhis tan nibadhnāti bhārata.

Know that tamas, the quality of inertia, is born of ignorance and deludes all embodied beings. It binds, O Bharata, through carelessness, laziness and sleep.

Live it todayDullness is not rest; rise and do the next small thing.

सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत।
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत॥

sattvaṁ sukhe sañjayati rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata,
jñānam āvṛtya tu tamaḥ pramāde sañjayaty uta.

Sattva ties one to happiness and rajas to action, O Bharata, while tamas, veiling wisdom, ties one to carelessness.

रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत।
रजः सत्त्वं तमश्चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस्तथा॥

rajas tamaś cābhibhūya sattvaṁ bhavati bhārata,
rajaḥ sattvaṁ tamaś caiva tamaḥ sattvaṁ rajas tathā.

Sattva rises by overpowering rajas and tamas, O Bharata; rajas rises over sattva and tamas; and in the same way tamas rises over sattva and rajas.

Live it todayMoods rise and fall in turns; none of them is the final you.

सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते।
ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत॥

sarva-dvāreṣu dehe ‘smin prakāśa upajāyate,
jñānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād vivṛddhaṁ sattvam ity uta.

When the light of knowledge shines through every gate of the body, then know that sattva, the quality of goodness, has grown strong.

Live it todayClarity in how you see and hear is a sign of inner goodness.

लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा।
रजस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ॥

lobhaḥ pravṛttir ārambhaḥ karmaṇām aśamaḥ spṛhā,
rajasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha.

Greed, constant activity, the rush to start new ventures, restlessness and longing: these arise when rajas, the quality of passion, grows strong, O best of the Bharatas.

Live it todayRestlessly starting new things is a signal to pause.

अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश्च प्रमादो मोह एव च।
तमस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे कुरुनन्दन॥

aprakāśo ‘pravṛttiś ca pramādo moha eva ca,
tamasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe kuru-nandana.

Darkness, inertia, carelessness and delusion arise when tamas grows strong, O joy of the Kurus.

Live it todayWhen the mind turns foggy and slow, step toward light and movement.

यदा सत्त्वे प्रवृद्धे तु प्रलयं याति देहभृत्।
तदोत्तमविदां लोकानमलान्प्रतिपद्यते॥

yadā sattve pravṛddhe tu pralayaṁ yāti deha-bhṛt,
tadottama-vidāṁ lokān amalān pratipadyate.

When the embodied one meets death while sattva prevails, it reaches the pure worlds of those who know the highest.

रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते।
तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते॥

rajasi pralayaṁ gatvā karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate,
tathā pralīnas tamasi mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate.

Dying when rajas prevails, one is born among those attached to action; dying when tamas prevails, one is born in the wombs of the deluded.

कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम्।
रजसस्तु फलं दुःखमज्ञानं तमसः फलम्॥

karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṁ nirmalaṁ phalam,
rajasas tu phalaṁ duḥkham ajñānaṁ tamasaḥ phalam.

The fruit of good action is said to be pure and full of goodness; the fruit of rajas is pain, and the fruit of tamas is ignorance.

Live it todayAct from a clear place, and the results come back clear.

सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च।
प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च॥

sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ rajaso lobha eva ca,
pramāda-mohau tamaso bhavato ‘jñānam eva ca.

From sattva arises knowledge, from rajas greed, and from tamas come carelessness, delusion and ignorance.

ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः।
जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था अधो गच्छन्ति तामसाः॥

ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ,
jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ.

Those established in sattva rise upward, those in rajas stay in the middle, and those in tamas, held by the lowest quality, go downward.

Live it todayYour inner state sets your direction; choose clarity today.

नान्यं गुणेभ्यः कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति।
गुणेभ्यश्च परं वेत्ति मद्भावं सोऽधिगच्छति॥

nānyaṁ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṁ yadā draṣṭānupaśyati,
guṇebhyaś ca paraṁ vetti mad-bhāvaṁ so ‘dhigacchati.

When the seer sees no doer other than the three qualities of nature, and knows what lies beyond them, that person attains my being.

Live it todayStep back and watch; what moves you is not the whole of you.

गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान्।
जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते॥

guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān,
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto ‘mṛtam aśnute.

Going beyond these three qualities from which the body springs, the embodied one is freed from birth, death, old age and sorrow, and tastes immortality.

Live it todayFreedom begins where your moods stop ruling you.

कैर्लिंगैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो।
किमाचारः कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते॥

kair liṁgais trīn guṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho,
kim ācāraḥ kathaṁ caitāṁs trīn guṇān ativartate.

By what signs, O Lord, is one known who has gone beyond these three qualities? How does such a person live, and how does one go beyond the three qualities?

प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव।
न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ्क्षति॥

prakāśaṁ ca pravṛttiṁ ca moham eva ca pāṇḍava,
na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati.

He who neither hates light, activity or delusion when they arise, nor longs for them when they cease.

Live it todayLet the weather of the mind come and go without a fight.

उदासीनवदासीनो गुणैर्यो न विचाल्यते।
गुणा वर्तन्त इत्येवं योऽवतिष्ठति नेङ्गते॥

udāsīna-vad āsīno guṇair yo na vicālyate,
guṇā vartanta ity evaṁ yo ‘vatiṣṭhati neṅgate.

One who sits as if unconcerned, unshaken by the qualities of nature, who stays firm and does not waver, knowing it is only the qualities at work.

Live it todayFeelings are doing their work; you can watch without being moved.

समदुःखसुखः स्वस्थः समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः।
तुल्यप्रियाप्रियो धीरस्तुल्यनिन्दात्मसंस्तुतिः॥

sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ sva-sthaḥ sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ,
tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ.

One who is the same in sorrow and joy, settled in the Self, who sees a lump of earth, a stone and gold as equal, who is steady, alike toward the pleasant and the unpleasant, alike in blame and praise.

Live it todayLet praise and blame land softly; neither one defines you.

मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः।
सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते॥

mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ,
sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa ucyate.

One who is the same in honor and dishonor, the same toward friend and foe, and who has given up all undertakings, is said to have gone beyond the qualities.

Live it todayStay the same person whether you are honored or slighted.

मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते।
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान् ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते॥

māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate,
sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate.

One who serves me with unwavering devotion goes beyond these qualities and becomes fit to be one with Brahman.

Live it todaySteady love for the Divine lifts you above your moods.

ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाऽहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च।
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च॥

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhā ‘ham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca,
śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca.

I am the ground of Brahman, of the immortal and the imperishable, of eternal dharma and of perfect joy.

Live it todayEvery lasting joy rests on the Divine; lean there.