बुद्धेर् भेदम् धृतेश् चैव गुणतस् त्रिविधं शृणु । प्रोच्यमानम् अशेषेण पृथक्त्वेन धनंजय ॥
buddher bhedam dhṛteś caiva guṇatas tri-vidhaṃ śṛṇu | procyamānam aśeṣeṇa pṛthaktvena dhanaṃjaya ||
Hear the three-fold division of buddhi and dhṛti by guṇas, declared exhaustively and distinctly, O Dhananjaya.
Word by word (3)
- buddher bhedam dhṛteś caiva guṇatas tri-vidhaṃ śṛṇu
- — the division/distinction (bhedam) of buddhi (intellect/discernment) and also (ca eva) dhṛti (firmness/constancy), three-fold (tri-vidham) by the guṇas (guṇatas) — hear (śṛṇu) — Krishna announces the next classification pair: buddhi and dhṛti will each be analyzed in three guṇa-types
- procyamānam aśeṣeṇa pṛthaktvena dhanaṃjaya
- — being declared/taught (procyamānam) exhaustively/without remainder (aśeṣeṇa = without-remainder), distinctly/separately (pṛthaktvena = with-separateness), O Dhananjaya (conqueror-of-wealth, Arjuna) — Krishna signals comprehensive and systematic treatment
- aśeṣeṇa
- — without remainder/exhaustively (a + śeṣa = no-remainder); Krishna uses this word to signal that the three-fold analysis of buddhi and dhṛti that follows will be complete and leave nothing out; a teaching-marker indicating systematic comprehensiveness
Now hear the threefold distinction of intellect and firmness according to the guṇas, as I declare them exhaustively and distinctly, O Dhananjaya.
A modern analogy
V29 is a chapter-heading verse — Krishna is organizing the teaching. Having completed jñāna (V20-22), karma (V23-25), and kartā (V26-28), he now announces the next two items: buddhi (intellect) and dhṛti (firmness). Like a systematic teacher saying 'Now I will cover the next two topics in our curriculum: discernment and willpower, each analyzed by the three guṇas.'
V29 is a transition verse — an announcement of what follows. The pattern V29-35 is: V29 announces buddhi + dhṛti analysis; V30-32 = three-fold buddhi (sāttvic/rājasic/tāmasic); V33-35 = three-fold dhṛti (sāttvic/rājasic/tāmasic). After V28's completion of the three-fold kartā analysis, V29 pivots the teaching from the actor to the actor's inner capacities: how does one's intelligence (buddhi) and willpower (dhṛti) differ by guṇa? These are the inner instruments through which karma and kartā express themselves.
The pairing of buddhi + dhṛti as the next analytical duo is significant. Buddhi is the discernment faculty — it determines WHAT to do. Dhṛti is the will-sustaining faculty — it determines WHETHER one actually does it. A person may have good buddhi (knows right action) but weak dhṛti (cannot sustain the will to act on it). The guṇa analysis of both separately allows understanding of how the same person can be clear in intellect but weak in follow-through (rājasic dhṛti) or have false intellectual certainty paired with stubborn persistence (tāmasic buddhi + tāmasic dhṛti).
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The threefold division of intellect and firmness according to qualities, about to be taught fully and distinctively (by Me), hear thou, O Dhananjaya. [1]
Hear thou the triple distinction of intellect and fortitude, according to the Gunas, as I declare them exhaustively and severally, O Dhananjaya. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
Hear now, O Dhananjaya, the three-fold division of intellect and constancy, according to their qualities, which I am about to declare exhaustively and distinctly. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Four varnas arise by guna and karma — not by birth. Though creator, I remain the non-doer, imperishable.
I am the gambling of the fraudulent and the power of the powerful; victory, effort, and the sattva of the sattvika.
From all wombs all bodies arise — but the great Brahman is the womb and Krishna the seed-giving Father.
Sattva binds to happiness; rajas to action; tamas veils wisdom and chains to heedlessness.
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
Knowledge, action, and agent are each three-fold by guṇa-distinction — as declared in the guṇa-science. Hear them.