Mūla — the verse
Gita Press numberingसत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः।
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम्
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛiti-sambhavāḥ
nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam
Anuṣṭubh(!!) irregular in source
Translation
Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣyaO mighty-armed one, the qualities, viz. sattva, rajas, and tamas, born of Nature, are the immutable embodiments belonging to the body.
हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda
हे महाबाहो ! सत्त्व, रज और तम ये प्रकृति से उत्पन्न तीनों गुण देही आत्मा को देह के साथ बांध देते हैं।।
Pronunciation — Vaamshii
from Vaamshiiसत् त्वं रजस् तम इति (!!)
गुणा# प्रकृति सम् भवाः
निबध् नन्ति महा बाहो
देहे देहिन मव्य यम्
॥ ५ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →
Word by word
padārthasattvammode of goodness
rajaḥmode of passion
tamaḥmode of ignorance
itithus
guṇāḥmodes
prakṛitimaterial nature
sambhavāḥconsists of
nibadhnantibind
mahā-bāhomighty-armed one
dehein the body
dehinamthe embodied soul
avyayameternal
Themes
from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad GītāMeaning — Questions & Solutions
from Q&A with KnA14.5All three aspects bind.
“Sattva, rajas and tamas — these guṇas, born of Prakṛti, bind fast in the body the imperishable dweller (dehinam).” The crucial word is all. Even sattva — purity, the highest strand — binds. This is the chapter’s great subtlety and its warning against spiritual complacency: goodness is a golden chain, but a chain still. The aim is not to become sattvic and stop there, but to pass beyond all three (14.20). To mistake sattva for the goal is to rest content in the finest cell of the prison.