सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन् प्रकाश उपजायते । ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्यात् विवृद्धं सत्त्वं इत्य् उत ॥
sarva-dvāreṣu dehe'smin prakāśa upajāyate | jñānaṃ yadā tadā vidyāt vivṛddhaṃ sattvaṃ ity uta ||
When intelligence-light shines through every sense-gate in this body — know that sattva is predominant.
Word by word (3)
- sarva-dvāreṣu dehe asmin prakāśaḥ upajāyate
- — when light (prakāśa) arises through every gate (sarva-dvāra = all sense-gates — eyes, ears, etc.) in this body (dehe asmin)
- jñānam yadā
- — when knowledge/discrimination (jñāna = discriminative intelligence) arises — yadā introduces the conditional
- tadā vidyāt vivṛddham sattvam iti uta
- — then know (vidyāt) that sattva has grown/predominated (vivṛddham sattvaṃ) — uta = verily, iti = thus
When light (the light of intelligence and clarity) shines through every gate of the body — through the eyes, ears, and all senses — then know that sattva is predominant in you.
A modern analogy
Sattvic awareness is like a bright morning when light floods every window of a house simultaneously. You can see clearly through every sense without distortion. There's no fog (tamas) and no agitation (rajas) — just pure, clear illumination through every channel of perception.
V11-V13 shift from describing how each guṇa binds to RECOGNIZING which guṇa is dominant. This is the self-diagnostic section of the teaching: by observing your inner state, you can identify which guṇa currently predominates. V11 gives the sign of sattva: jñāna-prakāśa (light of knowledge) through every sense-gate — a state of clarity, brightness, and heightened perception.
sarva-dvāreṣu ('through every gate') means ALL senses simultaneously illumined — not just intellectual clarity but perceptual luminosity. This is not ordinary intelligence but the higher discriminative faculty (buddhi) operating at full sattvic capacity. SW renders this as 'light of intelligence' — when buddhi is unobstructed by rajas or tamas, it illumines ALL perception, not just thought.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
MISSING — SH Ch.14 V11 not indexed; SW and Ganguli used as primary. [1]
When through every sense in this body, the light of intelligence shines, then it should be known that Sattva is predominant. [4]
When through all the gates of the body the light of intelligence beams, then it must be known that goodness has increased. [9]
When the light of knowledge beams forth from all the gates of the body, then it should be known that goodness (Sattva) is predominant. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The tattva-vit sees gunas moving among gunas and does not become attached. Knowledge itself produces liberation.
Even the wise act by their nature. All beings follow nature. Forced repression accomplishes nothing.
Krishna reopens with the supreme jñāna above all knowledge — knowing which every muni has reached parāṃ siddhim.
Sattva, rajas, or tamas — each can become dominant over the others, alternating in every mind.
When the seer sees only guṇas as agents and knows what is beyond them — he attains My being.
Transcending the three guṇas, the embodied one is freed from birth-death-age-pain and attains immortality.