14.11 Light at all the gates Krishna speaks
सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते
ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत
sarva-dvāreṣhu dehe ’smin prakāśha upajāyate
jñānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād vivṛiddhaṁ sattvam ity uta
When light appears at all the gates of this body, then know that clarity has grown strong.
Explanation
The test is bodily, not introspective.
When light appears at all the gates of the body, clarity has grown strong. The nine gates of 5.13 return, and you are told to check them.
What makes this useful is that it is observable. Not do I feel wise but whether the senses are working clearly — a question with a less flattering and more reliable answer.
Going further
Word by word
- sarva
- all
- dvāreṣhu
- through the gates
- dehe
- body
- asmin
- in this
- prakāśhaḥ
- illumination
- upajāyate
- manifest
- jñānam
- knowledge
- yadā
- when
- tadā
- then
- vidyāt
- know
- vivṛiddham
- predominates
- sattvam
- mode of goodness
- iti
- thus
- uta
- certainly
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When light appears at all the gates of this body.
The nine-gated city from 5.13 returns, and the diagnostic is bodily rather than abstract. You are told to check the quality of your seeing, not to examine your beliefs. 14.12 and 14.13 do the same for the other two strands: busyness and craving; then heaviness and fog.