Bg. 14.5
Devanagari
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणा: प्रकृतिसम्भवा: ।
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥ ५ ॥
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti
guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ
nibadhnanti mahā-bāho
dehe dehinam avyayam
guṇāḥ prakṛti-sambhavāḥ
nibadhnanti mahā-bāho
dehe dehinam avyayam
Synonyms
sattvam — the mode of goodness; rajaḥ — the mode of passion; tamaḥ — the mode of ignorance; iti — thus; guṇāḥ — the qualities; prakṛti — material nature; sambhavāḥ — produced of; nibadhnanti — do condition; mahā-bāho — O mighty-armed one; dehe — in this body; dehinam — the living entity; avyayam — eternal.
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.
Purport
The living entity, because he is transcendental, has nothing to do with this material nature. Still, because he has become conditioned by the material world, he is acting under the spell of the three modes of material nature. Because living entities have different kinds of bodies, in terms of the different aspects of nature, they are induced to act according to that nature. This is the cause of the varieties of happiness and distress.