श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताBhagavad Gītā · in the light of Sri Aurobindo, home

← The Immortal Self and the Yoga of the Intelligent Will

VerseThe Delight of Krishna

Verse 2·45

The Vedas speak of three modes of nature

Verse

त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन ।निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान् ॥

traiguṇyaviṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjunanirdvandvo nityasattvastho niryogakṣema ātmavān

The action of the three gunas is the subject-matter of the Vedas; but do thou become free from the triple guna, O Arjuna; without the dualities, ever based in the true being, without getting or having, possessed of the self.

Gītā 2·45

For the pragmatic mind of the Vedavadins the Aryan religion of the Rishis meant the strict performance of the Vedic sacrifices and the use of the sacred Vedic mantras in order to possess all human desires in this world, wealth, progeny, victory, every kind of good fortune, and the joys of immortality in Paradise beyond. For the idealism of the Brahmavadins this was only a preliminary preparation and the real object of man, true puruñärtha, began with his turning to the knowledge of the Brahman which would give him the true immortality of an ineffable spiritual bliss far beyond the lower joys of this world or of any inferior heaven. Whatever may have been the true and original sense of the Veda, this was the distinction which had long established itself and with which therefore the Gita has to deal.

CWSA 19 · Essays on the Gita · p. 87

From The Delight of Krishna · Bhagavad Gītā · in the light of Sri Aurobindo · incarnateword.in