14.19 No doer but the strands Krishna speaks
नान्यं गुणेभ्यः कर्तारं यदा द्रष्टानुपश्यति
गुणेभ्यश्च परं वेत्ति मद्भावं सोऽधिगच्छति
nānyaṁ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṁ yadā draṣhṭānupaśhyati
guṇebhyaśh cha paraṁ vetti mad-bhāvaṁ so ’dhigachchhati
When one who sees perceives no doer other than the strands, and knows what is beyond them, that one reaches my own state.
Explanation
Seeing no doer other than the strands.
This is the turn. The whole taxonomy has been building to a perception: that there is nobody behind the activity except the three strands working, and something beyond them that is not working at all.
Chapter 5 said the same thing without the machinery — I do nothing at all. Here the machinery is what makes it credible.
Word by word
- na
- no
- anyam
- other
- guṇebhyaḥ
- of the guṇas
- kartāram
- agents of action
- yadā
- when
- draṣhṭā
- the seer
- anupaśhyati
- see
- guṇebhyaḥ
- to the modes of nature
- cha
- and
- param
- transcendental
- vetti
- know
- mat-bhāvam
- my divine nature
- saḥ
- they
- adhigachchhati
- attain
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