Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 14, verse 5
The verse that names the three gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas, an idea used across Indian thought to describe nature, food, character and behaviour.
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सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः ।निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥
sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisaṃbhavāḥ |nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinamavyayam ||
Sattva, rajas and tamas: these are the gunas born of prakriti. They bind the imperishable Self to the body, mighty-armed one.
हे महाबाहो, सत्त्व, रज और तम, ये प्रकृति से उत्पन्न गुण हैं। ये अविनाशी देहधारी आत्मा को शरीर से बाँध देते हैं।
हे महाबाहो, सत्त्व, रज आणि तम हे प्रकृतीपासून जन्मलेले गुण आहेत. ते अविनाशी देहधारी आत्म्याला देहाशी बांधून ठेवतात.
In Sanskrit, sounds at word edges merge (sandhi), so a line looks like one long word. Split it to see each word and its meaning.
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः ।निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥
सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः संभवन्ति याः ।
Whatever forms are born from any womb, Arjuna, great nature is their womb, and I am the father who gives the seed.
14.6तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम् ।
Of these, sattva is pure, so it gives light and is free from trouble. Yet it too binds, through attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge, sinless one.
The Yoga of the Division of the Three Gunas
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