त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन। निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्॥
trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna / nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-kṣema ātmavān
The Vedas deal in the three qualities of nature — go beyond them: free from opposites, self-possessed.
Word by word (4)
- trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ
- — the Vedas deal with the domain of the three guṇas · A striking claim: a Vedic text says the Vedas are limited to the domain of the three guṇas (sattva/rajas/tamas). The teaching points beyond the framework itself.
- nistrai-guṇyo bhava arjuna
- — be beyond the three guṇas, O Arjuna
- nirdvandvaḥ nitya-sattva-sthaḥ
- — free from pairs of opposites, ever established in sattva
- niryoga-kṣema ātmavān
- — free from concern for acquisition and security; self-possessed · 'Ātmavān' — possessed of the Self, grounded in the Atman. The four qualities of the one who has transcended the guṇas: nirdvandva, nitya-sattva-stha, niryoga-kṣema, ātmavān.
'The Vedas deal with the domain of the three guṇas. O Arjuna, be beyond the three guṇas — free from opposites, ever established in sattva (purity), free from concern for gain and security, possessed of the self.'
A modern analogy
Every system — legal, religious, philosophical — operates within certain assumptions. The Gita here says: go beyond the framework. Not to discard it, but to have it as a tool rather than being had by it. 'Nistrai-guṇya' (beyond the three guṇas) is the state of the one who has understood the machinery of nature but is not driven by it.
Take with you
- The three guṇas (rajas/tamas/sattva) are the qualities of all manifest nature. The goal is to transcend their domain while still acting in the world.
- 'Nirdvandvaḥ' — free from pairs of opposites (hot/cold, success/failure, pleasure/pain). This echoes V38's 'sama' teaching.
- 'Ātmavān' — possessed of the self. The one who has realized the Atman is the truly free person.
Verse 45 contains one of the Gita's most striking statements: 'trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ' — the Vedas deal with the three guṇas. This is remarkable: a text that is itself a Vedic text says the Vedas operate within the domain of the three guṇas of nature (sattva/rajas/tamas), and therefore have a limited scope. The instruction is to go beyond that scope: 'nistrai-guṇyo bhava' — become free from the three guṇas. The four qualities of the one who is beyond: nirdvandva (free from pairs of opposites), nitya-sattva-stha (ever established in purity), niryoga-kṣema (free from anxiety about acquisition and preservation), ātmavān (self-possessed, abiding in the Atman).
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
The Vedas deal with the three gunas. Be thou beyond these three gunas, O Arjuna, freed from the pairs of opposites, ever established in sattva, without thought of acquisition and preservation, possessed of the Self. [4]
The Scriptures deal with matter; but do thou Rise above all matter, Arjuna! rise Past the three qualities, quit gain and loss And right and wrong: cling to the True! [7]
The Vedas deal with the three qualities. Do you, O Arjuna, become free from these qualities, free from dualities, always established in purity, free from all ideas of acquisition and preservation, and possessed of the Self. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Transcending the three guṇas, the embodied one is freed from birth-death-age-pain and attains immortality.
Treat pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as equal — then engage. No sin follows from this.
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.
Sattva, rajas, tamas — three guṇas born of Prakṛti — bind the indestructible ātman in every body.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
The fully self-realized person has no binding duty — their joy, satisfaction, and fullness come entirely from within.