सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते |
ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत || 11||
sarva-dvāreṣhu dehe ’smin prakāśha upajāyate
jñānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād vivṛiddhaṁ sattvam ity uta
sarva—all; dvāreṣhu—through the gates; dehe—body; asmin—in this; prakāśhaḥ—illumination; upajāyate—manifest; jñānam—knowledge; yadā—when; tadā—then; vidyāt—know; vivṛiddham—predominates; sattvam—mode of goodness; iti—thus; uta—certainly;
Translation:
When the light of knowledge shines through all the gateways of the body, then it may be known that sattva has prevailed.
Commentary:
According to the dominant quality in man, his actions are framed. The food he eats, the words he speaks, the way he thinks or walks or acts, – all these activities clearly show what quality is predominant in him at any particular time. When Sattva dominates, his speech is soft and pleasing. He walks steadily, he thinks nobly and peacefully, he eats pure food, he reads good books, he keeps the company of the wise. This truth is declared in this verse. We can easily identify the man of Sattva-guna and in the same way we can identify the people of Rajo-guna and Tamo-guna by their activities. Sattva is light and knowledge. The intellect (Buddhi) is then sharp and clear. He sees things as they are, and is not perturbed or troubled by the happenings around him. Such balanced conduct is the quality of Sattva. In fact, the external life of a man is itself the measuring metre to find out what his nature is. With some degree of introspection and self-examination, it is quite possible for each one to find out where he stands in the scale of the Gunas. He should proceed from Tamas to Rajas and from Rajas to Sattva and from Sattva to visuddha Sattva and thence to the transcendental state of Self-realisation
Question: What will be the nature of man’s life when Sattva-guna dominates?
Answer: His senses and mind are filled with the light of knowledge and his conduct is balanced and full of peace. Whoever possesses such conduct, can be discovered as a man of Sattvic nature.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 14 🔻 (27 Verses)
