प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहम् एव च पाण्डव । न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ्क्षति ॥
prakāśaṃ ca pravṛttiṃ ca moham eva ca pāṇḍava | na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati ||
The guṇātīta neither hates light, activity, or delusion when present — nor yearns for them when absent.
Word by word (3)
- prakāśam pravṛttim moham na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni
- — he does not hate (na dveṣṭi) light/clarity (prakāśa = sattva's effect), activity (pravṛtti = rajas's effect), delusion (moha = tamas's effect) when they are manifesting (sampravṛttāni = having arisen)
- na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati
- — nor does he yearn for/desire (na kāṅkṣati) them when they cease/withdraw (nivṛttāni = having receded)
- pāṇḍava
- — O Pāṇḍava (Arjuna) — this verse describes a mind so settled in the witness that it neither pushes away nor pulls toward any guṇa-state, even delusion itself
He does not hate the manifestation of light (sattva), activity (rajas), or delusion (tamas) when they arise within him. Nor does he yearn for them when they subside. He simply witnesses the guṇas playing.
A modern analogy
The sky doesn't hate rain (tamas-like heaviness) or yearn for sunshine (sattva-like clarity) — it simply accommodates whatever arises. The guṇātīta has become the sky of pure witnessing: clouds come and go — rajas, sattva, tamas — but the sky remains unperturbed, neither attracted nor repelled.
V22 gives the FIRST sign of the guṇātīta: equanimity toward guṇa-manifestations in one's own mind. Crucially, the guṇas are still PRESENT in the guṇātīta (they are not destroyed) — but the person no longer has dveṣa (hatred) toward them when they arise or kāṅkṣā (yearning) for them when they recede. This is different from suppression: the guṇātīta has transcended identification, not the guṇas themselves.
na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni is especially profound regarding tamas (moham eva ca): the guṇātīta doesn't even HATE delusion when it arises! This would seem paradoxical, but the logic is: hatred of delusion is still an emotional reaction from ego; the guṇātīta witnesses delusion arising and passing without any reactive charge. This requires a consciousness established beyond the guṇas, not one that fights them.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Light and activity and delusion present, O Pāṇḍava, he hates not, nor longs for them absent. [1]
He who hates not the appearance of light (the effect of Sattva), activity (the effect of Rajas), and delusion (the effect of Tamas), (in his own mind), O Pandava, nor longs for them when absent. [4]
He does not hate the light that arises when they prevail, O descendant of Pandu, nor activity, nor even delusion; and he does not long for them when they cease. [9]
He hates not light (of knowledge), nor activity, nor even delusion (in himself), O Pandava, when they appear, and longs not for them when they disappear. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Tamas — born of ignorance — deludes all beings and binds through carelessness, laziness, and sleep.
Rājasic dāna: given expecting reciprocity, or eyeing fruit, or reluctantly — held to be rājasic.
I am Time, the world-destroyer — even without you, none of these warriors shall survive; they are already slain!
O Madhusūdana — I see no stable foundation for this yoga: the mind's restlessness defeats all steadiness.
When your mind — shaken by conflicting teachings — stands still in samādhi: that is yoga attained.
Sattva-abiders go upward; rajasic dwell in the middle; tamas-abiders sink downward — the cosmic gradient.