Bhagavad Gita BG 14.14
Chapter 14, Verse 14 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
यदा सत्त्वे प्रवृद्धे तु प्रलयं याति देहभृत् । तदोत्तमविदां लोकान् अमलान्प्रतिपद्यते ॥
yada sattve pravrddhe tu pralayam yati deha-bhrt tadottama-vidam lokan amalan pratipadyate
Meaning
If the embodied one meets death (pralaya) when sattva is flourishing — then one attains the stainless worlds of those who know the highest.
Understanding
The teaching on death in each guna: yada sattve pravrddhe (when sattva is dominant/flourishing — not just a momentary sattvic mood but the dominant state at death). Pralayam yati deha-bhrt (the deha-bhrt = the body-bearer/embodied one, meets pralaya = death). Tadottama-vidam lokan amalan pratipadyate (then one attains the amalamun = stainless worlds of uttama-vidah = those who know the highest). The sattvic being at death moves toward the luminous, clear states — the worlds of higher knowledge. Not yet liberation (which is complete transcendence), but the highest prepared intermediate — the environment of the highest knowers. Death in sattva = the best possible transition.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| प्रवृद्धे | pravrddhe | when flourishing, when dominant, when fully developed |
| प्रलयम् | pralayam | dissolution, death — the dissolving of the body |
| देहभृत् | deha-bhrt | the body-bearer, the embodied being (deha = body, bhrt = bearing) |
| उत्तमविदाम् | uttama-vidam | of those who know the highest, of the supremely wise |
| अमलान् | amalan | stainless, pure, uncontaminated |
| प्रतिपद्यते | pratipadyate | attains, reaches, goes to |
| यदा | yadā | when |
| सत्त्वे | sattve | in goodness |
| प्रवृद्धे | pravṛddhe | when grown, when increased |
| तु | tu | indeed |
| याति | yāti | goes to |
| देह-भृत् | deha-bhṛt | the embodied being |
| तदा | tadā | then |
| उत्तम-विदाम् | uttama-vidām | of those who know the highest |
| लोकान् | lokān | the worlds |
| अमलान् | amalān | spotless, pure |
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