Chapter 14, Verse 11
सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते | ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत ||१४-११||
sarvadvāreṣu dehe.asminprakāśa upajāyate . jñānaṃ yadā tadā vidyādvivṛddhaṃ sattvamityuta ||14-11||
Meaning
14.11 When through every gate (sense) in this body, the wisdom-light shines, then it may be known that Sattva is predominant.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna now teaches Arjuna to read the guṇas by their signs, beginning with sattva. Its unmistakable mark is prakāśa — light, luminosity — shining through 'every gate of the body,' meaning all the senses and the mind. When the eyes see clearly, the mind discerns wisely, and a quiet brightness pervades one's whole experience, sattva is in the ascendant.
This is a gift of practical self-knowledge. Rather than guessing at our inner state, we can observe it: Is there clarity and calm, an ease of understanding, a sense of inner illumination? Then sattva prevails, and it is a favourable time for study, reflection, prayer, and important decisions. The Gita does not ask us to manufacture this light by effort; it asks us to recognise it when it dawns and to use such moments well, for in sattva the soul stands nearest to the threshold of freedom.
💡 Key Takeaway
When clarity and inner light fill your senses and mind, sattva is rising — use such moments for what matters most.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | परं भूयः प्रवक्ष्यामि ज्ञानानां ज्ञानमुत्तमम् | यज्ज्ञात्वा मुनयः सर्वे परां सिद्धिमितो गताः ||१४-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . paraṃ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi jñānānāṃ jñānamuttamam . yajjñātvā munayaḥ sarve parāṃ siddhimito gatāḥ ||14-1||
14.1 The Blessed Lord said I will again declare (to thee) that supreme knowledge, the best of all knowledge, having known which all the sages have gone to the supreme perfection after this life.
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः | निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ||१४-५||
sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisambhavāḥ . nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinamavyayam ||14-5||
14.5 Purity, passion and inertia these alities, O Arjuna, born of Nature, bind fast in the body, the embodied, the indestructible.
तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम् | सुखसङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ ||१४-६||
tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvātprakāśakamanāmayam . sukhasaṅgena badhnāti jñānasaṅgena cānagha ||14-6||
14.6 Of these, Sattva, which from its stainlessness is luminous and healthy, binds by attachment to happiness and by attachment to knowledge, O sinless one.