Even clarity can bind if ego attaches to it.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम् |सुखसङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ ||१४-६||
tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvātprakāśakamanāmayam . sukhasaṅgena badhnāti jñānasaṅgena cānagha ||14-6||
Use this verse to avoid sattvic ego.
Meaning
Of these, sattva is pure, illuminating, and free from disease; yet it binds by attachment to happiness and knowledge, O sinless one.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Sattva brings clarity and goodness but can still bind through attachment.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Sattva is the most elevating guna, but Krishna warns that attachment even to peace, happiness, or knowledge can become subtle bondage.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna begins his portrait of the three guṇas with sattva, the finest of them. Because it is nirmala — stainless and clear — it is luminous and healthy, bringing serenity, insight, and well-being. Of the three, it is plainly the most desirable, the soil in which wisdom grows.
Yet Krishna issues a subtle warning: even sattva binds. It chains the soul by saṅga, attachment — attachment to the very happiness and knowledge it produces. This is the trap the spiritual seeker must understand.
A subtle pride in one's own peace, or a clinging to the pleasure of understanding, becomes a golden chain — beautiful, but still a chain. Sattva lifts us high and prepares us for freedom, but the final step beyond all three guṇas requires that we hold even our clarity lightly, enjoying it without gripping it.
In daily life
Cultivate sattva, but do not become proud of being sattvic.
A person who meditates daily may start feeling superior; this is sattva mixed with ego.
Try this today
Practice one good action without superiority.
I cultivate clarity without pride.Reflect
Am I attached to being peaceful, wise, or pure?
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Quick check
What does ‘ज्ञानसङ्गेन च’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on happiness, in other chapters
- Verse 18.37The truest joy feels bitter at first like discipline, but ripens into lasting inner sweetness.
- 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 2.66Without discipline there is no wisdom, without wisdom no contemplation, without contemplation no peace, and without peace happiness is impossible.
Swipe left for 14.7 · Rajas turns desire into restless action.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 14.6
Who says Bhagavad Gita 14.6, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 14.6, in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 14.6 mean?
Of these, sattva is pure, illuminating, and free from disease; yet it binds by attachment to happiness and knowledge, O sinless one. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 14.6 for daily life?
Cultivate sattva, but do not become proud of being sattvic. A person who meditates daily may start feeling superior; this is sattva mixed with ego.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 14.6 mean?
तत्र — among these; सत्त्वम् — sattva (purity); निर्मलत्वात् — due to its stainlessness; प्रकाशकम् — luminous, illuminating; अनामयम् — free from disease, healthy.
Where does verse 14.6 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 6 of 27 in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 14.7.