Complete learning edition. The Sanskrit source remains separate from attributed word meanings, translation, explanation and commentary witnesses. Diagrams and memory aids are study tools, not replacements for the source text.
सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत।ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत।।14.9।।
sattvaṁ sukhe sañjayati rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata jñānam āvṛitya tu tamaḥ pramāde sañjayaty uta
Purity brings happiness, passion brings commotion, and ignorance, which obscures wisdom, leads to a life of failure.
English rendering by Shri Purohit Swami. Each source voice remains named.
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Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.
| Sanskrit form | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| sattvam | mode of goodness |
| sukhe | to happiness |
| sañjayati | binds |
| rajaḥ | mode of passion |
| karmaṇi | toward actions |
| bhārata | Arjun, the son of Bharat |
| jñānam | wisdom |
| āvṛitya | clouds |
| tu | but |
| tamaḥ | mode of ignorance |
| pramāde | to delusion |
| sañjayati | binds |
| uta | indeed |
Just as a dark cloud enshrouds the sun, so also Tamas envelops knowledge or the light of the Self. Tamas creates an attachment for heedlessness, that is, ignorance or forgetfulness of duty or the nonperformance of necessary (obligatory) duties.
Attributed explanatory witness: Swami Sivananda. Chapter lens: Study how the three guṇas arise, bind, become visible in effects and are related to a response beyond identification.
Three named reading witnesses
Śaṅkara edition witness
Swami GambiranandaO scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva attaches one to happiness, rajas to action, while tamas, obscuring knowledge, leads to inadvertence as well.
Rāmānuja edition witness
Swami AdidevanandaSattva generates attachment to pleasure, Rajas to action, O Arjuna. But Tamas, obscuring knowledge, generates attachment to negligence.
Sivananda commentary witness
Swami SivanandaJust as a dark cloud enshrouds the sun, so also Tamas envelops knowledge or the light of the Self. Tamas creates an attachment for heedlessness, that is, ignorance or forgetfulness of duty or the nonperformance of necessary (obligatory) duties.
These are concise, attributed reading witnesses from identified editions. They are presented for comparison and are not merged into one anonymous interpretation.
Meaning map
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- 1
Purity brings happiness, passion brings commotion
- 2
ignorance, which obscures wisdom, leads to a life of failure
- 3
sattvam: mode of goodness
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Study how the three guṇas arise, bind, become visible in effects and are related to a response beyond identification.
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- 1
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- 2
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- 3
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