- 14.1परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम् ।Krishna introduces a deeper teaching that can lead a seeker all the way to final spiritual completion.
- 14.2इदं ज्ञानमुपाश्रित्य मम साधर्म्यमागताः ।True understanding gives freedom from fear of both coming into the world and seeing it pass away.
- 14.3मम योनिर्महद् ब्रह्म तस्मिन्गर्भं दधाम्यहम् ।Krishna describes the universe as arising from divine source and divine seed working together.
- 14.4सर्वयोनिषु कौन्तेय मूर्तयः सम्भवन्ति याः ।All life comes from the same divine source, with Brahman as the womb and Krishna as the seed-giving father.
- 14.5सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः ।The three gunas of nature hold the soul in embodied life and shape how it experiences the world.
- 14.6तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम् ।Sattva is the clear and bright quality that draws the mind toward peace, wisdom, and goodness.
- 14.7रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् ।Rajas pushes a person outward through desire, restlessness, and endless doing.
- 14.8तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम् ।Tamas covers the mind with dullness, carelessness, and inertia.
- 14.9सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत ।Each guna creates its own kind of attachment and keeps a person from full freedom.
- 14.10रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत ।Whichever guna is strongest at a given time shapes the person’s mind and behavior.
- 14.11सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते ।When a person becomes more clear, aware, and perceptive, sattva is rising.
- 14.12लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा ।Rajas makes the mind hungry, busy, and never fully settled.
- 14.13अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश्च प्रमादो मोह एव च ।Tamas shows up as dullness, forgetfulness, and mental confusion.
- 14.14यदा सत्त्वे प्रवृद्धे तु प्रलयं याति देहभृत् ।A life shaped by clarity and goodness leads to a higher and purer state after death.
- 14.15रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते ।What dominates a person at death influences the kind of birth and environment that follows.
- 14.16कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् ।Each guna produces a different kind of result: clarity, suffering, or confusion.
- 14.17सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च ।Sattva leads to insight, while rajas and tamas lead to craving and confusion.
- 14.18ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः ।The dominant guna lifts, holds, or drags a person’s consciousness.
- 14.19नान्यं गुणेभ्यः कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति ।One who sees clearly understands that nature acts through the gunas, while Krishna stands beyond them.
- 14.20गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान् ।Freedom comes when a person rises above the forces that bind ordinary life.
- 14.21कैर्लिङ्गैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो ।Arjuna asks how a person beyond the gunas can be recognized and how that state is reached.
- 14.22प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव ।A person beyond the gunas does not cling to their rise or resent their passing.
- 14.23उदासीनवदासीनो गुणैर्यो न विचाल्यते ।Such a person stays steady and sees the gunas as processes rather than personal identity.
- 14.24समदुःखसुखः स्वस्थः समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः ।A liberated person remains even-minded in all circumstances and values.
- 14.25मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः ।The one beyond the gunas does not live by social approval, opposition, or personal ambition.
- 14.26मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते ।Devotion to Krishna is a direct path beyond the binding forces of nature.
- 14.27ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च ।Krishna declares himself to be the ground of the eternal reality and the source of lasting joy.
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