Bhagavad Gita 18.19ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः।प्रोच्यते गुणसंख्याने यथावच्छृणु तान्यपि ॥
jñānaṁ karma cha kartā cha tridhaiva guṇa-bhedataḥ
prochyate guṇa-saṅkhyāne yathāvach chhṛiṇu tāny api
Sanskrit recitation
What makes an action · 18.13–18.28 · Teaching
Translation
Knowledge, action, and actor are declared in the science of the Gunas (Sankhya philosophy) to be of three kinds only, according to the distinction of the Gunas. Of these, hear duly.
Hindi translation
गुणसंख्यान (गुणोंके सम्बन्धसे प्रत्येक पदार्थके भिन्न-भिन्न भेदोंकी गणना करनेवाले) शास्त्रमें गुणोंके भेदसे ज्ञान और कर्म तथा कर्ता तीन-तीन प्रकारसे ही कहे जाते हैं, उनको भी तुम यथार्थरूपसे सुनो।
Meaning
The three alities overpower the whole of creation with their special nature and bring it entirely under their control. The nature of action, the actor and his knowledge are threefold according to the Gunas that is predominant. If all the three are Sattvic, then the action will not bind the man.Karta The doer of the actions.The science of the Gunas here referred to is Kapilas system of philosophy. Though the Sankhya system is opposed to Vedanta with reference to the Supreme Truth, viz., the oneness or nonduality of Brahman, yet it is an authority on the science of the Gunas.I shall describe knowledge, action and actor, as also their various distinctions caused by different Gunas, scientifically and rationally. Hear My teachings, O Arjuna, with rapt attention. You will be immensely benefited.
After Swami Sivananda
What makes an action· 18.13–18.28→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 18.13Learn from Me, O mighty-armed Arjuna, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya…
- 18.14The body, the doer, the various senses, the different functions of various kinds, and the…
- 18.15Whatever action a person performs with their body, speech, and mind, whether right or…
- 18.16Now, such being the case, verily he who, owing to an untrained understanding, looks upon…
- 18.17He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose intelligence is not tainted by good or…
- 18.18Knowledge, the knowable, and the knower form the threefold impulse for action; the organ,…
18.19Knowledge, action, and actor are declared in the science of the Gunas (Sankhya philosophy)…
- 18.20That by which one sees the indestructible Reality in all beings, not separate in any of…
- 18.21But that knowledge which sees in all beings various entities of distinct kinds as being…
- 18.22But that which clings to one single effect as if it were the whole, without reason,…
- 18.23An action that is ordained, free from attachment, done without love or hatred, and without…
- 18.24But that action which is done by one longing for the fulfillment of desires or gain with…
- 18.25That action which is undertaken from delusion, without regard for the consequences, loss,…
- 18.26An agent who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with firmness and enthusiasm,…
- 18.27Passionate, desiring to obtain the reward of their actions, greedy, cruel, impure, moved…
- 18.28Unsteady, vulgar, inflexible, deceitful, malicious, lazy, despondent, and…
Word-by-word→
- api
- also
- cha
- also
- eva
- certainly
- karma
- action
- tāni
- them
- kartā
- doer
- tridhā
- of three kinds
- jñānam
- knowledge
- prochyate
- are declared
- yathā-vat
- as they are
- śhṛiṇu
- listen
- guṇa-bhedataḥ
- distinguished according to the three modes of material nature
- guṇa-saṅkhyāne
- Sānkhya philosophy, which describes the modes of material nature
Read this when you feel
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