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 →

Verses

• 14.1Some knowledge does not inform you; it completes you.
• 14.2True understanding makes beginning and ending stop ruling you.
• 14.3All birth comes from a source beyond personal control.
• 14.4All forms arise from one source, and the divine gives them life.
• 14.5Nature's three forces keep the changeless one identified with the body.
• 14.6Even clarity becomes bondage when you cling to its pleasure.
• 14.7Craving turns action into a chain.
• 14.8Confusion binds most through laziness, not force.
• 14.9Each force traps you in a different way: comfort, activity, or blindness.
• 14.10What dominates the mind is temporary, not who you are.
• 14.11Inner brightness is the sign that clarity is taking over.
• 14.12Restless wanting multiplies action, but never settles the mind.
• 14.13Darkness does not stay still; it breeds neglect and confusion.
• 14.14A clear state carries consciousness toward a clearer destination.
• 14.15Your strongest tendency decides the shape of your next beginning.
• 14.16Action carries its own flavor of result.
• 14.17Your mental weather has causes: clarity, craving, and confusion each grow from different qualities.
• 14.18Your inner quality decides the direction of your life.
• 14.19Freedom begins when you stop mistaking qualities for a personal doer.
• 14.20Freedom begins when the three qualities no longer define you.
• 14.21Real freedom must be visible, livable, and learnable.
• 14.22Freedom begins when changing states stop controlling your response.
• 14.23Freedom begins when movement happens, but identity does not.
• 14.24Steadiness means nothing external gets to decide your center.
• 14.25Freedom begins when praise, blame, and personal impulse lose their power over you.
• 14.26Steady devotion can carry you beyond the forces that shape ordinary life.
• 14.27All ultimate freedom rests in Krishna, not apart from him.