The gunas shape and bind experience.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः |निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ||१४-५||
sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisambhavāḥ . nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinamavyayam ||14-5||
Use this verse as the core three-guna explainer.
Meaning
Sattva, rajas, and tamas, born of prakriti, bind the imperishable embodied being to the body, O mighty-armed one.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
The three gunas bind the soul to embodied experience.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Krishna names the three forces that shape moods, behavior, perception, and attachment. Even sattva can bind if the soul identifies with it.
Read the traditional commentary
Here Krishna names the three guṇas that are the chapter's central teaching: sattva (clarity and harmony), rajas (passion and restless activity), and tamas (inertia and darkness). All three are prakṛti-sambhavāḥ — born of Nature, not of the Self. They are the threads from which every state of mind and mood is woven.
The striking word is avyayam — the indestructible. The true Self is imperishable and ever-free, yet the guṇas 'bind fast' the dehī, the embodied one, within the body. How can the unbindable be bound?
Through identification. When the Self forgets itself and takes the moods of Nature as its own — 'I am happy, I am driven, I am dull' — it experiences bondage though it was never truly chained. The whole chapter is a map for loosening that knot of mistaken identity.
In daily life
Learn your guna patterns before trying to transcend them.
A person can track when they feel clear, restless, or dull and connect it to food, sleep, habits, and attention.
Try this today
Track your dominant guna once today.
I observe the gunas and move toward freedom.Reflect
Which guna binds me most often?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘देहिनम् अव्ययम्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on self, in other chapters
- Verse 5.14Action springs from nature's flow, not from the pure Self — release the burden of believing your ego authors it all.
- Verse 13.22What you cling to shapes where you go — attachment to nature's qualities keeps the wheel of rebirth turning.
- Verse 15.2Desire-driven actions send down new roots that bind us deeper into the cycle of becoming.
- Verse 3.5You cannot escape action because nature keeps you moving — so make your action conscious and selfless rather than trying to stop it.
Swipe left for 14.6 · Even clarity can bind if ego attaches to it.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 14.5
Who says Bhagavad Gita 14.5, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 14.5, in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 14.5 mean?
Sattva, rajas, and tamas, born of prakriti, bind the imperishable embodied being to the body, O mighty-armed one. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 14.5 for daily life?
Learn your guna patterns before trying to transcend them. A person can track when they feel clear, restless, or dull and connect it to food, sleep, habits, and attention.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 14.5 mean?
सत्त्वम् — purity, harmony (sattva); रजः — passion, activity (rajas); तमः — inertia, darkness (tamas); इति गुणाः — these qualities; प्रकृतिसम्भवाः — born of Nature.
Where does verse 14.5 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 5 of 27 in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 14.6.