Bhagavad Gita 14.10रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत।रजः सत्त्वं तमश्चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस्तथा ॥
rajas tamaśh chābhibhūya sattvaṁ bhavati bhārata
rajaḥ sattvaṁ tamaśh chaiva tamaḥ sattvaṁ rajas tathā
Sanskrit recitation
Three moods of nature · 14.1–14.18 · Teaching
Translation
Now, O Arjuna, Sattva prevails, having overpowered Rajas and Tamas; then Rajas, having overpowered Sattva and Tamas; and then Tamas, having overpowered Sattva and Rajas.
Hindi translation
हे भरतवंशोद्भव अर्जुन ! रजोगुण और तमोगुणको दबाकर सत्त्वगुण सत्त्वगुण, और तमोगुणको दबाकर रजोगुण, वैसे ही सत्त्वगुण और रजोगुणको दबाकर तमोगुण बढ़ता है।
Meaning
Just as winter has its sway when summer and autumn have gone, just as sleep has its sway when a man is neither dreaming nor waking, so also Sattva has its sway when Rajas and Tamas are suppressed and makes people say that they are happy. The Sadhana for increasing Sattva is given in the 17th and 18th chapters.Each quality acts in its own turn at different times. All the three alities cannot operate at one and the same time. When one quality asserts itself or prdominates by overpowering or suppressing the other two, it produces its own effect. Sattva produces knowledge and happiness Rajas action Tamas veiling of knowledge, inertia, error, indolence, sloth and sleep. When Sattva is in the ascendant in a man, he is endowed with discrimination. Sublime thoughts roll in his mind. He has pure understanding. His mind turns away from sensual pleasures and moves inward towards the Self.What is the characteristic mark by which you can know that a particular quality is predominant or is in the ascendant The answer is given in the following three verses.
After Swami Sivananda
Three moods of nature· 14.1–14.18→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 14.1The Blessed Lord said, "I will again declare to thee that supreme knowledge, the best of…
- 14.2Those who, having taken refuge in this knowledge, have attained unity with Me, are neither…
- 14.3My womb is the great Brahma; in it I place the germ; thence, O Arjuna, is the birth of all…
- 14.4Whatever forms are produced, O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever, the great Brahma is their…
- 14.5These qualities, O Arjuna, born of Nature, bind fast in the body of the embodied, the…
- 14.6Of these, sattva, which is luminous and healthy due to its stainlessness, binds one by…
- 14.7Know, O Arjuna, that Rajas is of the nature of passion, the source of thirst and…
- 14.8But know thou Tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings; it binds fast,…
- 14.9Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Arjuna, while Tamas, verily shrouding…
14.10Now, O Arjuna, Sattva prevails, having overpowered Rajas and Tamas; then Rajas, having…
- 14.11When the wisdom-light shines through every gate of this body, then it may be known that…
- 14.12Greed, activity, the undertaking of actions, restlessness, and longing—these arise when…
- 14.13Darkness, inertia, carelessness, and delusion—these arise when Tamas is predominant, O…
- 14.14If the embodied one meets death when Sattva is predominant, then they attain the spotless…
- 14.15Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those who are attached to action; and dying in…
- 14.16They say that the fruit of good action is Sattvic and pure; indeed, the fruit of Rajas is…
- 14.17From Sattva arises knowledge, and greed from Rajas; heedlessness and delusion arise from…
- 14.18Those seated in Sattva ascend; those of Rajasic nature dwell in the middle; and those of…
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- eva
- indeed
- tathā
- also
- bhavati
- becomes
- rajaḥ
- mode of passion
- sattvam
- mode of goodness
- tamaḥ
- mode of ignorance
- bhārata
- Arjun, the son of Bharat
- abhibhūya
- prevails
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