Skip to main content
← Chapter 7: The Yoga of Knowledge and Wisdom

Verse 7.12

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये | मत्त एवेति तान्विद्धि न त्वहं तेषु ते मयि ||१२||

Transliteration (IAST)

ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasāstāmasāśca ye | matta eveti tānviddhi na tvahaṁ teṣu te mayi ||12||

Word-by-Word Meanings

सात्त्विकाः-of sattva (goodness)
भावाः-states of being
राजसाः-of rajas (passion)
तामसाः-of tamas (ignorance)
मत्तः-from Me
न तु अहम्-but I am not

Translation

Know that all states of being - whether sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic - proceed from Me alone. Yet I am not in them; they are in Me.

Commentary

This verse articulates divine transcendence alongside immanence. Though the three gunas originate from God, He is not bound by them. Shankaracharya uses the analogy of a magician who creates an illusion but is not deluded by it. This is the foundation for understanding maya.

Themes

jnanayoga