BG 14.6 — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 14.6Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात् प्रकाशकमनामयम् ।

सुखसङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ ॥

tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvāt prakāśakam anāmayam

sukha-saṅgena badhnāti jñāna-saṅgena cānagha

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Of the three, sattva is the purest, luminous and free from affliction, yet it still binds you, Arjuna, through attachment to happiness and to knowledge.

ekras · bhāṣya

Among the three, sattva — by nirmalatva, by purity — is prakashakam, illumining; anamayam, free from affliction. Yet it badhnati — binds — through sukha-sanga and jnana-sanga, attachment to pleasure and to knowledge. Anagha.

Krishna names sattva's paradox: the cleanest, brightest guna still binds. The bhakta who clings to even pure pleasure or pure knowing remains within the field.

Shankara reads precisely. Sattva, untainted like crystal, illumines objects and is free from disturbance. Yet it binds the dehin through attachment to sukha and jnana. The bondage is avidya alone: neither pleasure nor knowledge is a property of the atman, which is the unmoved witness. Projecting them onto the self is the false identification that holds the witness in samsara. The 'I am happy' and 'I am the knower' are mano-dharma — qualities of the mind — wrongly attributed to the witness.

Madhusudana follows Shankara's adhyasa-analysis but names the mechanism precisely: sattva, being svaccha, transparent, functions as the chid-bimba-grahana-yogyata — the fitness of the inner organ to reflect the light of Consciousness. Sukha and jnana named here are antahkarana-parinama, modifications of the inner organ, that the guna makes vivid. Attachment to these modifications is what binds; the modifications themselves are not the binding — the sanga is.

Ramanuja reads sattva's defining character as nirmala — the absence of any veil over prakasha and sukha — so it acts as the direct cause of vastu-yatharthya-avabodha, valid cognition of things as they truly are, and of health. The binding mechanism is a causal chain: sattva generates attachment to sukha and jnana; that attachment drives engagement with worldly and Vedic means of producing more sukha and more jnana; that engagement produces karma; karma produces rebirth. Sattva's purity does not exempt it from this chain.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: sattva, being nirmala, is prakashaka and anamaya, yet it binds. Even this finest mode of prakriti remains paratantra, wholly distinct from the jiva and infinitely more so from svatantra Hari. The verse names sattva's binding-mode precisely because the bhakta must not mistake sattva-attachment for liberation.

Vallabha reads sattva as prakrita — material, belonging to prakriti's own order — despite its luminosity. It binds by sanga to laukika sukha and laukika jnana, the worldly ego-declarations 'I am happy, I am the knower.' This binding proceeds through prakriti's own maryada — bounded order — not through divine grace; it is precisely the zone outside Krishna's pushti, the nourishing grace that pulls the bhakta beyond all guna-bondage.

Shridhara reads sattva as svaccha like crystal — it illumines because it has no obstruction; it is anamaya, peaceful. Because of this peace it binds through its own product sukha; because of this illumination it binds through its own product jnana. 'I am happy, I am the knower' — these are mano-dharma wrongly attributed to the atman. The bhakta's task is to enjoy sukha and jnana without the sanga that turns them into chains.

Context

where

Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 14.5

Sattva, rajas, and tamas arise from nature and bind the imperishable self within the body.

What's going on

Of the three, sattva is the purest, luminous and free from affliction, yet it still binds you, Arjuna, through attachment to happiness and to knowledge.

Sūtras through this verse (29)

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here14.6───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

12.20These devotees are exceedingly dear.───→here14.6───→14.26Unwavering love fits one for brahman.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

11.54Undivided love — sādhana stripped, grace-clothed.───→here14.6───→14.26Beyond the modes is grace-rooted love.

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MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

14.2At creation's reissue the released remain free.───→here14.6───→15.6The supreme abode does not return its dwellers.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

14.3Kāṣāyaṇa-śruti gives three goddesses one job each.───→here14.6───→18.14Āyāsya-śruti closes the agency question.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordbetween

14.3Three goddesses named in a single śruti.───→here14.6───→15.4Cut the world-tree by knowing whose play it is.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

2.72Akṣapāda and Kaṇāda are simply ruled out.───→here14.6───→14.27What stands behind brahman is fixed by named texts.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeexit

13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.───→here14.6───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

12.6Single-aim devotion draws the lifting hand.───→here14.6───→14.26Unswerving devotion crosses the modes.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

14.1Now, the highest of all knowings.───→here14.6───→15.1Dispassion first; else neither knowing nor love.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

9.32Even the low-born reach the highest goal.───→here14.6───→14.18The modes decide which womb is next.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

14.5Three modes bind the imperishable.───→here14.6───→14.18Sattva up, rajas mid, tamas downward.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

12.13Friend to all, equal in cold and in heat.───→here14.6───→14.24Past the modes, equal in praise and blame.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here14.6───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalapproach

───→here14.6───→14.26Fit for the state of brahman, not fused.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeexit

13.10A steady evenness is the seeker's mark.───→here14.6───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

14.1Two-verse prelude names guṇa-vibhāga.───→here14.6───→18.1Closing chapter's prelude seals the program.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

11.54Bhāgavata + Brahmasūtra fuse at the vision-verse.───→here14.6───→14.26Brahman dwells in the one beyond the modes.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

13.13Not a power-of-the-Lord; the Lord himself, formless.───→here14.6───→14.27I am the foundation of formless Brahman itself.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

12.20The middle six closes on the fearless ripened one.───→here14.6───→14.27The brahma-ground obtains in this body.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderexit

13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here14.6───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningexit

13.1The last six work what 'are' really means.───→here14.6───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyatebetween

13.7Twenty jñāna-qualities: still description.───→here14.6───→14.22Guṇātīta-lakṣaṇa follows the same rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousbetween

14.1Modes belong to the Lord's prakṛti.───→here14.6───→15.7Aṃśa pinned to the Lord, not free.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

14.1Beyond sāṅkhya: the modes that bind.───→here14.6───→18.1The closing chapter gathers all questions.

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktabetween

14.5Three modes bind the soul.───→here14.6───→14.17Each mode, its effect.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessbetween

14.5Three primary contractions of cit.───→here14.6───→14.19Past the modes by recognizing, not replacing.

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidexit

12.12'Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyaga───→here14.6───→

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideexit

13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.───→here14.6───→

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 13 occurrences)

बध्नाति √bandh — to bind (verbal root) · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
सङ्गेन saṅga ×2 — attachment, contact (= saṅga in earlier dict — alternate spelling) · instrumental masculine singular noun
प्रकाशकम् prakāśaka — (prakāśa + -ka: light) · nominative neuter singular noun
अनामयम् anāmaya — free from disease, healthy (an- + āmaya) · nominative neuter singular noun

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तत्र tatra — there, in that case
सत्त्वम् sattva — purity, lightness (the first guṇa); being, essence · nominative neuter singular noun
निर्मल nirmala — stainless, pure (nis- + mala 'stain') · compound
त्वात् tva — you-ness; abstract suffix making 'X-ness' from X · ablative neuter singular noun
सुख sukha — happiness, pleasure, ease · compound
ज्ञान jñāna — knowledge, wisdom, cognition · compound · also at 1.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.26, 3.32 +70
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
अनघ anagha — sinless (an- + agha 'sin'); epithet/address · vocative masculine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If even clarity and knowledge bind when we cling to them as 'mine,' what would it mean to enjoy understanding without claiming the understander?
02Sankara says the atman has no guna-properties at all — so who exactly is being bound when sattva binds 'the dehin'? Where does the binding actually occur?

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03Ramanuja's causal chain shows sattva binding through its own gifts of health and cognition: is every gain in clarity also a new opportunity for subtler attachment?
04Vallabha distinguishes laukika (worldly) sukha from Krsna's own svarupa-sukha — how would a practitioner recognise in lived experience which happiness they are in?
05The verse addresses 'anagha' (the sinless, or the one without vice) — why does Krsna choose this address precisely at the point of teaching that even virtue binds?
06If sattva binds through knowledge-attachment and tamas binds through ignorance, is there any cognitive state that simply does not bind — and what would practice toward that state look like?
07Madhusudana calls sattvic joy an antahkarana-parinama (modification of the inner organ), not a property of the self — does this dissolve the desire for sattvic states, or only redirect it?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Notice the thought 'I understand this deeply' and ask: who is the understander? Sattva's trap is pride in lucidity — the student who rests in 'I am the one who knows' has simply exchanged ignorance for a more comfortable chain. Practice returning every insight to the witness that observes it, without claiming authorship.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Dedicate each moment of clear thinking or calm feeling as seva (service) to Bhagavan rather than as a personal achievement. Ramanuja's teaching here is practical: when sattvic clarity arises, redirect it immediately toward laukika-vaidika action as kainkarya rather than storing it as self-improvement, because stored sattvic capital becomes tomorrow's rebirth motive.

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Dvaita

Treat moments of sattvic clarity as evidence of Hari's grace acting through Prakrti, not as demonstrations of personal spiritual progress. Madhva's school insists the jiva adds nothing to the guna's operation; the appropriate response to a clear, peaceful mind is gratitude and intensified remembrance of Hari, not self-congratulation.

Śuddhādvaita

When you feel at peace or intellectually sharp, pause before labelling it 'I am calm' or 'I am wise.' Vallabha's point is that this labelling is exactly the laukika sanga that keeps you in Prakrti's orbit. Instead, offer the moment back to Krsna as an upasthana (presentation) — 'this clarity is yours, let it be your seeing through me.'

Bhakti

Use sattva's gifts of peace and discernment in service of the Lord's devotees rather than as personal ornaments. Sridhara's teaching implies that the bhakta who remains 'anagha' does so precisely by not claiming the mano-dharma (mind-qualities) as self-defining; the quiet mind becomes a clean mirror for Bhagavan rather than a trophy of spiritual practice.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's synthesis suggests a dual practice: intellectually, see sukha and jnana as antahkarana-parinama (modifications, not the real self); devotionally, offer those modifications to Krsna as puja. The Advaita move cuts identification; the bhakti move gives the released energy somewhere to go. Neither step alone is sufficient — the two run simultaneously in the mature practitioner.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 14, Verse 6: Krishna to Arjuna — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga