Taught by Swami Sarvapriyananda, this episode is part of a series of talks that unfold the highest truths of Vedanta through the study of the Bhagavad Gita, "The Song of God".

Chapter 14 is devoted to an understanding of the Gunatreya Vibhaga Yoga, or the three qualities/components of Maya. The entire universe is created by a projection of the three gunas - satva, rajas, and tamas. Understanding the science of the three gunas and how we can apply it to our lives is the focus of Chapter 14.

In this episode, Swami Sarvapriyananda explains verses 16-20 of Chapter 14.

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Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 14, Verse 16

कर्मण: सुकृतस्याहु: सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् |

रजसस्तु फलं दु:खमज्ञानं तमस: फलम् || 16||

karmaṇaḥ sukṛitasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṁ nirmalaṁ phalam

rajasas tu phalaṁ duḥkham ajñānaṁ tamasaḥ phalam

⧫ The result of righteous actions is said to be satvica and pure, the result of rajas is pain, while ignorance is the result of tamas

Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 14, Verse 17

सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च |

प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च || 17||

sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ rajaso lobha eva cha

pramāda-mohau tamaso bhavato ’jñānam eva cha

⧫ From satva results knowledge, from rajas only greed, and from tamas nothing but inadvertence, delusion, and ignorance.

Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 14, Verse 18

ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसा: |

जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था अधो गच्छन्ति तामसा: || 18||

ūrdhvaṁ gachchhanti sattva-sthā madhye tiṣhṭhanti rājasāḥ

jaghanya-guṇa-vṛitti-sthā adho gachchhanti tāmasāḥ

⧫ Those who abide in satva go upward to the higher spheres, the rajasica dwell in the middle spheres, and the tamasica, dwelling in the function of the lower gunas, go down to the lowest spheres.

Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 14, Verse 19

नान्यं गुणेभ्य: कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति |

गुणेभ्यश्च परं वेत्ति मद्भावं सोऽधिगच्छति || 19||

nānyaṁ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṁ yadā draṣhṭānupaśhyati

guṇebhyaśh cha paraṁ vetti mad-bhāvaṁ so ’dhigachchhati

⧫ When the seer beholds no active agent other than the gunas and knows that which is beyond the gunas, he attains My being

Bhagavad Gita | Chapter 14, Verse 20

गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान् |

जन्ममृत्युजरादु:खैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्रुते || 20||

guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān

janma-mṛityu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto ’mṛitam aśhnute

⧫ Having transcended these three gunas, which are the cause of this body (and mind), the embodied self, bereft of birth, death, old age, and misery, attains immortality