Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga
The three modes of nature: sattva, rajas, tamas. Everything that arises is some weave of these three. The yogi's task is to see them at work.
All 27 verses below.
Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human-reviewed. Reviewed June 2026. Methodology →

“Some knowledge does not inform you; it completes you.”
Real understanding is not information. It is the kind that changes where you stand in life.
Read full verse 14.1 →All verses
- 14.1Ch. 14
Some knowledge does not inform you; it completes you.
Real understanding is not information. It is the kind that changes where you stand in life.
- 14.2Ch. 14
True understanding makes beginning and ending stop ruling you.
There is calm in knowing that what you truly are is untouched by beginnings and endings.
- 14.3Ch. 14
All birth comes from a source beyond personal control.
The world is not random. Life arises through a deeper order already at work.
- 14.4Ch. 14
All forms arise from one source, and the divine gives them life.
You are not isolated from life. Everything that appears is joined by one hidden source.
- 14.5Ch. 14
Nature's three forces keep the changeless one identified with the body.
You are not trapped by weakness alone; the whole system of nature can keep you identified.
- 14.6Ch. 14
Even clarity becomes bondage when you cling to its pleasure.
It warns that even good states can trap you when you start clinging to them.
- 14.7Ch. 14
Craving turns action into a chain.
You can see how craving quietly turns action into bondage.
- 14.8Ch. 14
Confusion binds most through laziness, not force.
You can spot what drags you down by watching what dulls your mind and delays your action.
- 14.9Ch. 14
Each force traps you in a different way: comfort, activity, or blindness.
It becomes easier to notice what is steering you before it quietly takes over.
- 14.10Ch. 14
What dominates the mind is temporary, not who you are.
You can stop treating your moods as permanent. What dominates now will not stay forever.
- 14.11Ch. 14
Inner brightness is the sign that clarity is taking over.
You can notice inner growth by the quality of your awareness, not by outer noise.
- 14.12Ch. 14
Restless wanting multiplies action, but never settles the mind.
You can recognize agitation early, before it turns into compulsive wanting.
- 14.13Ch. 14
Darkness does not stay still; it breeds neglect and confusion.
It feels easier to catch stagnation early than to wake up inside it.
- 14.14Ch. 14
A clear state carries consciousness toward a clearer destination.
Your dominant state matters most at the end; it shapes where consciousness moves next.
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- 14.15Ch. 14
Your strongest tendency decides the shape of your next beginning.
Your deepest habits do not vanish at the end of a life. They carry their own momentum.
- 14.16Ch. 14
Action carries its own flavor of result.
Your actions shape the kind of life you inherit from them.
- 14.17Ch. 14
Your mental weather has causes: clarity, craving, and confusion each grow from different qualities.
You can stop treating every bad impulse as random and start seeing what kind of energy is feeding it.
- 14.18Ch. 14
Your inner quality decides the direction of your life.
Your dominant state shapes the kind of world you keep entering.
- 14.19Ch. 14
Freedom begins when you stop mistaking qualities for a personal doer.
It brings relief from the burden of personal control.
- 14.20Ch. 14
Freedom begins when the three qualities no longer define you.
There is relief in seeing that suffering belongs to change, not to what is deepest in you.
- 14.21Ch. 14
Real freedom must be visible, livable, and learnable.
It is okay to ask how real freedom looks before you can live it.
- 14.22Ch. 14
Freedom begins when changing states stop controlling your response.
You stop fighting your changing states and stop chasing the next one.
- 14.23Ch. 14
Freedom begins when movement happens, but identity does not.
You can stop identifying with every passing mood and impulse. That creates a quiet kind of freedom.
- 14.24Ch. 14
Steadiness means nothing external gets to decide your center.
You do not have to be pulled around by every reaction. Steadiness is possible.
- 14.25Ch. 14
Freedom begins when praise, blame, and personal impulse lose their power over you.
You can stop living as a puppet of approval, rejection, and impulse.
- 14.26Ch. 14
Steady devotion can carry you beyond the forces that shape ordinary life.
Love that does not waver can take you past the limits of your ordinary nature.
- 14.27Ch. 14
All ultimate freedom rests in Krishna, not apart from him.
What you seek at the deepest level is not separate from its source.