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Chapter 14 · The Three Modes of Material Nature · 27 verses

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Nature & guṇasChapter 14 · The Three Modes of Material Nature

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 14.5

How goodness, passion and ignorance bind

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणा: प्रकृतिसम्भवा: ।

निबध्‍नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥ ५ ॥

sattvaṁ rajas tama iti

guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ

nibadhnanti mahā-bāho

dehe dehinam avyayam

Translation

Material nature consists of three modes – goodness, passion and ignorance. When the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he becomes conditioned by these modes.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

Three Modes of Nature

  1. 1Material nature has three modes—goodness, passion and ignorance—which condition the eternal living being when he contacts nature.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that the living being is beyond material nature, yet acts under these modes when conditioned.
  3. 3Different bodies lead living beings to act according to different aspects of nature, causing varied happiness and distress.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 14, The Three Modes of Material Nature: how goodness, passion and ignorance bind.

What it teaches

Theme summary

The modes of nature condition behavior.

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Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Three modes

Three modes bind the eternal living entity.

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 14.5 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to nature & guṇas?

Practice

Observe which mode shaped your last decision.

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Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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