सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः ।निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥
sattvaṃ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisambhavāḥ |nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinam avyayam ||
- सत्त्वम् · sattvam
- lucidity, goodness
- रजः · rajaḥ
- passion, restless activity
- तमः · tamaḥ
- inertia, darkness
- इति · iti
- thus, so called
- गुणाः · guṇāḥ
- the strands, qualities
- प्रकृतिसम्भवाः · prakṛtisambhavāḥ
- born of nature
- निबध्नन्ति · nibadhnanti
- they bind
- महाबाहो · mahābāho
- O mighty-armed one
- देहे · dehe
- in the body
- देहिनम् · dehinam
- the embodied one
- अव्ययम् · avyayam
- the imperishable (self)
“Lucidity, passion, and inertia — these are the strands born of nature, O mighty-armed one, and they bind the imperishable self within the body.”
— Original plain-language translation
IN SHORT Clarity, restlessness, and dullness color you and can quietly bind you.
This is the chapter's key proposition: the free self looks bound only because nature's three strands hold it. Guna means strand, like the strands of a rope — together they tie. Everything that follows is commentary on this one sentence. It is like three strong cords together tying a free cricket ball to a post.
— Reader's notes (original)