The document summarizes chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita according to Gandhi. It discusses Lord Krishna describing the three gunas or qualities - sattva, rajas, and tamas - that influence the immortal soul and keep it bound to the body. These gunas originate from primordial nature or prakriti. Krishna explains how the three gunas affect beings in different ways, leading to different rebirths. He then answers Arjuna's question about how to transcend the three gunas and describes the characteristics of one who has risen above the three qualities and become free from rebirth.

1. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
T K G NAMBOODHIRI
THIRUVALLA, KERALA
Presentation adapted from
The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, Orient
Paperbacks,2011
T K G Namboodhiri

2. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
T K G Namboodhiri
CHAPTER 14
GUNA THRAYA VIBHAGA
YOGA

3. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
CHAPTER 14 - Introduction
In this Chapter Lord Krishna
describes at length the unlimited,
phenomenal existence of Atman or
the Immortal Soul manifesting from
its association with the three gunas,
Sattva, Rajas & Tamas, knowing
which great Sages have achieved
release from Samsara- the perpetual
cycle of birth & death- and attained
the ultimate Goal.
T K G Namboodhiri

4. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.1 to 14.3
Yet again will I expound the highest and the
best of all knowledge, knowing which all the
sages passed hence to the highest perfection.
By having recourse to this knowledge they
become one with Me. They need not come to
birth even at a creation, nor do they suffer at a
dissolution.
The great Prakriti is for Me, the womb in which
I deposit the germ; from it all beings come to
birth, O Bharata.
God is a magician, He simply puts the seed in His
imagination- which is Prakriti, Lakshmi or Mother
Goddess of the world- and the universe comes into
existence.
T K G Namboodhiri

5. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.4 & 14.5
Whatever forms take birth in the various species,
the great Prakriti is their Mother & I the seed-giving
Father.
Sattva, rajas and tamas are the gunas sprung from
Prakriti; it is they, O Mahabahu, that keep the
imperishable Dweller bound to the body.
I am the Father & the Prakriti is the Mother of all
forms that take birth in the various species.
The physical body is the product of the three gunas-
sattva or goodness, rajas or passion & tamas or
nescience (ignorance) which all arise from Prakriti.
These gunas or qualities influence the Atman- the
imperishable Soul- & keep it bound to the body.
T K G Namboodhiri

6. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.6 to 14.8
Of these sattva, being without stain, is light-giving
& healing; it binds with the bond of happiness & the
bond of knowledge, O sinless one.
Rajas, know thou, is of the nature of passion; the
source of thirst & attachment; it keeps man bound
with the bond of action.
Tamas, know thou, is born of ignorance, of mortal
man’s delusion; it keeps him bound with
heedlessness, sloth & slumber, O Bharata.
The three gunas, their characteristic features &
how they bind the soul to the body are given here.
Even sattva binds with bonds of happiness &
knowledge. Rajas produces desire & attachment,
Tamas creates illusion & lethargy.
T K G Namboodhiri

7. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.9 to 14.11
Sattva attaches man to happiness, rajas to action, &
tamas, shrouding knowledge, attaches him to
heedlessness.
Sattva prevails, O Bharata, having overcome rajas &
tamas; rajas prevails when it has overpowered sattva &
tamas; likewise tamas reigns when sattva & rajas are
crushed.
When the light—knowledge– shines forth from all the
gates of his body, then it may be known that sattva
thrives.
Sattva leads to happiness & the quality of rajas to karma.
Tamas covers up knowledge & leads to pramad. All three gunas
exist in us. We should make a special effort to cultivate that
which we want to strengthen. Each guna predominates when
the other two are subordinated. When knowledge emanates
from a persons words, demeanour, & actions, know that sattva
predominates in him.
T K G Namboodhiri

8. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.12 to 14.15
Greed, activity, assumption of undertakings,
restlessness, craving--- these are in evidence when rajas
flourishes, O Bharatarshabha.
Ignorance, dullness, heedlessness & delusion– these are
in evidence when tamas reigns, O Kurunandana.
If the embodied one meets his end whilst sattva prevails,
there he attains to the spotless worlds of the knower of
the Highest.
If he dies during the reign within him of rajas, he is born
among men attached to action; and if he dies in tamas,
he is born in a species not endowed with reason.
The characteristics of rajas & tamas are described. The next
birth of a person depends on the reigning guna at the time of
his death. Departure during the reign of sattva enables one to
reach the higher worlds. Predominance of rajas leads to birth
among active humans, & that of tamas leads to birth in sub-
human or foolish species.
T K G Namboodhiri

9. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.16 to 14.19
The fruit of sattvik action is said to be stainless merit;
that of rajas is pain & that of tamas ignorance.
Of sattva, knowledge is born. Of rajas, greed; of tamas,
heedlessness, delusion & ignorance.
Those abiding in sattva rise upwards, those in rajas stay
midway, those in tamas, sink downwards.
When the seer perceives no agent other than the gunas
and knows Him who is above the gunas, he attains to My
being.
The fruits of actions under the three gunas, & the nature
of the people with each guna are described.
When one realises that these gunas are the agents of all
activities & that the embodied Atman is above theses
gunas, he attains merger with the Brahman.
T K G Namboodhiri

10. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.20 & 14.21
The Lord concluded this section:
When the embodied one transcends these three gunas which
are born of his contact with the body he is released from the
pain of birth, death & age and attains moksha.
Then Arjuna asked:
What O Lord, are the marks of him who has transcended the
three gunas? How does he conduct himself? How does he
transcend the three gunas?
Sri Krishna concluded his discussion on the gunas by saying
that if & when the embodied soul overcomes the effects of the
three gunas & goes above them, he will be released from the
shackles of birth & death. Because of Its identification with the
body, mind & intellect, he got tied up in this world.
Then Arjuna asked the Lord as to how such a person who has
overcome the gunas be recognized? What characterizes such a
person. How does he behave? How to go above the gunas?
T K G Namboodhiri

11. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.22 & 14.23
The Lord replied:
He, O Pandava, who does not disdain light, activity, &
delusion when they come into being, nor desires them
when they vanish.
He, who, seated as one indifferent, is not shaken by the
gunas & stays still & moves not, knowing it is the gunas
playing their parts.
He who transcends the three gunas, does not suffer because of
light (Knowledge) or activity or darkness (Ignorance)– does not
suffer when any of them predominates over the others- & does
not desire that one of these should prevail or subside. A person
who has risen above the three gunas will not let himself be
deceived by the 3-fold distinction of good, bad, & indifferent. We
shall not see in him the effects of any of the three gunas. Such
a person has come out of the duality of happiness & misery. He
has risen above the pairs of opposites. He would seem to us
untouched, unconcerned by anything. He should be absolutely
free from egotism. T K G Namboodhiri

12. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.24 & 14.25
He who holds pleasure & pain alike, who is
sedate, who regards earth, stone & gold, as all
the same, who is wise & weighs in equal scale
things pleasant & unpleasant, who is even-
minded in praise & blame.
Who holds alike respect & disrespect, who is
the same to friend & foe, who indulges in no
undertaking– that man is called guna-atitah.
Lord Krishna completes the characteristics of a
person who has conquered the three gunas.
T K G Namboodhiri

13. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 14.26 & 14.27
He who serves Me with an unwavering & exclusive
bhakti-yoga transcends these gunas & is worthy to
become one with Brahman.
For I am the very image of Brahman changeless &
deathless as also of everlasting dharma & perfect
bliss.
Lord Krishna ends his discussion on the three gunas
with these verses. Here He tells Arjuna that by
unwavering & constant devotion to the Lord, one
can go beyond these gunas. Such a person becomes
one with Brahman.
End of Chapter 14
T K G Namboodhiri