14.23 The strands are working Krishna speaks
उदासीनवदासीनो गुणैर्यो न विचाल्यते
गुणा वर्तन्त इत्येव योऽवतिष्ठति नेङ्गते
udāsīna-vad āsīno guṇair yo na vichālyate
guṇā vartanta ity evaṁ yo ’vatiṣhṭhati neṅgate
who sits as if indifferent, unmoved by the strands, thinking “the strands are working”, and does not stir;
Explanation
The strands are working.
guṇā vartante — that is the whole of the described attitude. Not I am calm, not I have transcended. Just the noticing, in the third person.
And sits as if indifferent — the as if is honest. What is described is a stance, not a claim about having no reactions.
Going further
Word by word
- udāsīna-vat
- neutral
- āsīnaḥ
- situated
- guṇaiḥ
- to the modes of material nature
- yaḥ
- who
- na
- not
- vichālyate
- are disturbed
- guṇāḥ
- modes of material nature
- vartante
- act
- iti-evam
- knowing it in this way
- yaḥ
- who
- avatiṣhṭhati
- established in the self
- na
- not
- iṅgate
- wavering
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Guṇā vartanta — the strands are working. That is the whole of the described attitude.
Not I am calm, not I have transcended. Just the noticing, in the third person, of weather passing through. Arjuna asked in 14.21 for the signs by which such a person could be recognised, and this is the answer: they say something in their mind that puts a small distance between themselves and the mood.