Bhagavad Gita BG 14.5
Chapter 14, Verse 5 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः । निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥
sattvam rajas tama iti gunas prakrti-sambhavah nibadhnanti maha-baho dehe dehinam avyayam
Meaning
Sattva, rajas, and tamas — these gunas, born of Prakriti, bind the imperishable dweller in the body (dehin) to the body, O mighty-armed.
Understanding
The three gunas declared: sattvam (purity, clarity, harmony), rajas (passion, activity, striving), tamas (inertia, darkness, confusion). Prakrti-sambhavah (born of Prakriti — they are Prakriti's modes). Nibadhnanti (they BIND) — dehe dehinam avyayam (the imperishable dehin/Self to the body). The key: the Self (dehin/Atman) is avyayam (imperishable, unchanging) — yet it is BOUND in the body through the gunas. Bondage is not intrinsic to the Self; it is the result of the gunas' operation on Consciousness.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| सत्त्वम् | sattvam | sattva (clarity, purity, harmony, goodness) |
| रजस् | rajas | rajas (passion, activity, striving, desire) |
| तमस् | tamas | tamas (inertia, darkness, confusion, heaviness) |
| निबध्नन्ति | nibadhnanti | they bind, they tie |
| देहिनम् | dehinam | the dehin (the soul, the embodied Atman) |
| अव्ययम् | avyayam | imperishable, changeless, inexhaustible |
| रजः | rajaḥ | the mode of passion |
| तमः | tamas iti | the mode of ignorance, thus |
| गुणाः | guṇāḥ | the material qualities |
| प्रकृति-सम्भवाः | prakṛti-sambhavāḥ | born of nature |
| महा-बाहो | mahā-bāho | O mighty-armed one |
| देहे | dehe | in the body |