{"entry":{"slug":"bg-chapter-14","title":"Bhagavad Gīta Chapter 14 — Guṇa-traya-vibhāga Yoga","devanagari":"गुणत्रयविभागयोग","iast":"guṇa-traya-vibhāga-yoga","type":"bg-chapter","url":"https://thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-14/","codex":"sanatana-dharma","last_verified":"2026-05","confidence":"high"},"chapter":{"number":14,"name":"Guṇa-traya-vibhāga-yoga","name_translation":"The Yoga of the Analysis of the Three Guṇas","verses":27,"speaker_primary":"Kṛṣṇa (throughout); Arjuna (14.21)","key_verses":["14.5–14.9","14.20","14.22–14.25","14.26–14.27"]},"three_gunas":{"Sattva":{"nature":"luminosity, clarity, purity — stainless, illuminating, free from disease","binds_by":"attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge","verse":"14.6: tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvāt prakāśakam anāmayam / sukha-saṅgena badhnāti jñāna-saṅgena cānagha"},"Rajas":{"nature":"passion, activity, restlessness — arises from craving and attachment","binds_by":"attachment to action","verse":"14.7: rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇā-saṅga-samudbhavam / tan nibadhnāti kaunteya karma-saṅgena dehinam"},"Tamas":{"nature":"inertia, delusion, darkness — born of ignorance, deluder of all embodied beings","binds_by":"negligence, laziness, sleep","verse":"14.8: tamas tv ajñāna-jaṃ viddhi mohanaṃ sarva-dehinām / pramādālasya-nidrābhis tan nibadhnāti bhārata"}},"key_verses_detail":{"BG_14_20":{"iast":"guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān / janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute","translation":"The embodied self, having transcended these three Guṇas that are the cause of the body, is freed from birth, death, old age, and sorrow — and attains immortality.","note":"Liberation requires transcending not just Tamas and Rajas but all three Guṇas — including Sattva's attachment to happiness and knowledge. Technical term: Triguṇātīta."},"trigünatita_marks_14_22_25":{"note":"BG 14.22: not averse to Sattva/Rajas/Tamas manifestations when they arise; not longing when they cease; 'sits as a non-doer, not moved by the Guṇas.' BG 14.23: established and unshaken, knowing the Guṇas alone act. BG 14.24–14.25: equal in pleasure-pain; earth/stone/gold same; same to pleasant/unpleasant; firm; equal in blame/praise; equal in honour/dishonour; equal to friend/foe; abandoning all enterprise."},"BG_14_26_27":{"iast_26":"māṃ ca yo 'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate / sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate","translation":"One who serves Me through unswerving Bhakti Yoga transcends these Guṇas and becomes worthy of attaining Brahman. (14.26)","iast_27":"brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca / śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca","translation":"For I am the foundation of Brahman — the immortal, the imperishable, the eternal Dharma, and the ultimate happiness. (14.27)","note":"The means of transcendence = Bhakti Yoga. BG 14.27: Kṛṣṇa is the foundation (pratiṣṭhā) of Brahman itself. Advaita: personal Kṛṣṇa is Saguna Brahman, with Nirguna Brahman as foundation. Viśiṣṭādvaita: Viṣṇu is the absolute; Brahman's foundation is Viṣṇu."}},"guna_dynamics":"BG 14.9–14.10: the Guṇas shift in balance constantly. BG 14.9: Sattva causes attachment to happiness, Rajas to action, Tamas to negligence. BG 14.10: sometimes one predominates over the other two. The path: increasing Sattva until Sattva can recognise the Ātman beyond all three Guṇas.","guna_and_rebirth":"BG 14.14: Sattva-predominant death → pure worlds of the wise. BG 14.15: Rajas-predominant → reborn among those attached to action; Tamas-predominant → born in deluded wombs. BG 14.16: fruit of Sattvic action = pure; Rajasic = sorrow; Tamasic = ignorance.","relation_to_samkhya":"The Gīta's Guṇa analysis draws on Sāṃkhya's Guṇa framework but reframes it theistically. In Sāṃkhya, liberation = Puruṣa's recognition of non-entanglement with Prakṛti. In the Gīta, the same metaphysical structure applies but the path is Bhakti Yoga (14.26–14.27).","sources":[{"tier":1,"citation":"BG 14.1–14.27 with Śaṅkara Gītābhāṣya · Gambhirananda (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 595–619"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 345–359"}],"navigation":{"previous":{"chapter":13,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-13/","name":"Kṣetra-Kṣetrajña Yoga"},"next":{"chapter":15,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-15/","name":"Puruṣottama Yoga","status":"coming-soon"}},"provenance":{"confidence":"high","last_verified":"2026-05","citation":"\"BG Chapter 14 — Sanātana Dharma Codex\", thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-14/, last updated May 2026."}}