Step 4 of 7 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.

  1. 1Tap a chapter, then a verse
  2. 2Read what it means
  3. 3Try the practice
700 verses37 detailed
Or browse by chapter
Chapter

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

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627

Deep profile← → keys move between verses

Nature & guṇasChapter 14 · The Three Modes of Material Nature
14.514.7

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 14.6

How goodness, passion and ignorance bind

तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम् ।

सुखसङ्गेन बध्‍नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ ॥ ६ ॥

tatra sattvaṁ nirmalatvāt

prakāśakam anāmayam

sukha-saṅgena badhnāti

jñāna-saṅgena cānagha

Translation

O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

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

How Goodness Can Bind

  1. 1Goodness is purer than the other modes. It brings understanding and freedom from sinful reactions, but binds one to happiness and knowledge.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that pride in knowledge and feeling better than others keep one bound to material life and repeated birth and death.
  3. 3Do not mistake material happiness and greater knowledge for liberation.

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.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Three modes

Goodness binds by attachment to happiness and knowledge.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 14.6 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to nature & guṇas?

Practice

Observe which mode shaped your last decision.

4

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 14 ›
5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 14.5How goodness, passion and ignorance bindBG 14.7How goodness, passion and ignorance bindBG 14.8How goodness, passion and ignorance bindBG 14.26Devotion transcends the guṇas

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

Ask the study guide

Ask about BG 14.6 — get a simple answer linked to related ideas and verses.

Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.