Verse 18.30
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये | बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी ||३०||
Transliteration (IAST)
pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye | bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī ||30||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
That intellect which knows when to act and when to withdraw, what ought to be done and what ought not, what is to be feared and what not, what binds and what liberates - that intellect, O Partha, is sattvic.
Commentary
Sattvic intellect possesses comprehensive discernment across four pairs of opposites. Shankaracharya explains that this buddhi correctly distinguishes pravṛtti (worldly engagement) from nivṛtti (spiritual withdrawal), duty from non-duty, real danger from imagined fear, and bondage from liberation. Ramanuja notes this is the discriminative faculty (viveka) essential for moksha.