Bhagavad Gita BG 18.40
Chapter 18, Verse 40 — Meaning, Translation & Explanation
न तदस्ति पृथिव्यां वा दिवि देवेषु वा पुनः । सत्त्वं प्रकृतिजैर्मुक्तं यदेभिः स्यात्त्रिभिर्गुणैः ॥
na tad asti prthivyAm va divi deveshu va punah sattvam prakrtijair muktam yad ebhih syat tribhir gunaih
Meaning
There is no being either on earth or again in heaven among the gods that is free from these three gunas born of Prakriti.
Understanding
The universality of the gunas declared: na tad asti (there is no such being) prthivyam va divi deveshu va (on earth or in heaven among the gods). Sattvam prakrtijair muktam (any sattva/being free from the Prakriti-born gunas). No being in any realm of existence — human or divine — is free from the three gunas. The gods in heaven are under the gunas just as humans are; only the Purushottama/Brahman is genuinely beyond the gunas. This teaching democratizes the challenge: there is no realm where the guna-problem is automatically solved. Liberation requires the specific transcendence, not a change of location.
Word by Word
| Word | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| पृथिव्याम् | prthivyAm | on earth, in the earthly realm |
| दिवि | divi | in heaven, in the celestial realm |
| सत्त्वम् | sattvam | being, creature, entity (not the guna sattva here) |
| प्रकृतिजैः | prakrtijair | born of Prakriti, Prakriti-born |
| मुक्तम् | muktam | free from, liberated from |
| न | na tat asti | that does not exist |
| पृथिव्याम् | pṛthivyām vā | on earth or |
| देवेषु | devebhyaḥ vā punaḥ | or among gods again |
| प्रकृति-जैः | prakṛti-jaiḥ | born of material nature |
| यत् | yat | which |
| एभिः | ebhiḥ | from these |
| स्यात् | syāt | would be |
| त्रिभिः | tribhiḥ | from three |
| गुणैः | guṇaiḥ | modes of nature |