ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः ।प्रोच्यते गुणसङ्ख्याने यथावच्छृणु तान्यपि ॥
jñānaṃ karma ca kartā ca tridhaiva guṇabhedataḥ |procyate guṇasaṅkhyāne yathavac chṛṇu tāny api ||
- ज्ञानम् · jñānam
- knowledge
- कर्म · karma
- action
- कर्ता · kartā
- the doer
- त्रिधा · tridhā
- in three ways
- एव · eva
- indeed
- गुणभेदतः · guṇabhedataḥ
- according to the difference of guṇas
- प्रोच्यते · procyate
- is declared
- गुणसङ्ख्याने · guṇasaṅkhyāne
- in the teaching of the guṇas
- यथावत् · yathāvat
- duly, as they are
- शृणु · śṛṇu
- hear
- तानि · tāni
- them
- अपि · api
- also
“Knowledge, action, and the doer are each declared threefold according to the guṇas in the teaching of the guṇas — hear them too, as they truly are.”
— Original plain-language translation
Krishna announces the big threefold catalogue that fills 18.20–18.28: each of knowledge, action, and doer comes in sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic forms. This extends Chapter 14's guṇa teaching into a practical diagnostic. The listener is meant to locate themselves and climb upward.
— Reader's notes (original)