14.5 All three bind Krishna speaks
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम्
sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛiti-sambhavāḥ
nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam
Clarity, restlessness and inertia — these strands, born of nature, bind the imperishable embodied one to the body.
Explanation
Three strands, and the verb to watch is bind.
sattva, rajas, tamas — clarity, restlessness, inertia. All three bind the imperishable embodied one to the body.
Not two bad and one good. That is the chapter's central and most easily missed claim, and the next verse makes it explicit about the one you would expect to be exempt.
Going further
Word by word
- sattvam
- mode of goodness
- rajaḥ
- mode of passion
- tamaḥ
- mode of ignorance
- iti
- thus
- guṇāḥ
- modes
- prakṛiti
- material nature
- sambhavāḥ
- consists of
- nibadhnanti
- bind
- mahā-bāho
- mighty-armed one
- dehe
- in the body
- dehinam
- the embodied soul
- avyayam
- eternal
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Clarity, restlessness, inertia — sattva, rajas, tamas. The chapter's title comes from the rope of three strands, and the verb is worth noticing: all three bind.
Clarity binds too. That is the surprise. The strand everyone wants is still described as a cord, and 14.6 names what it ties you to: attachment to happiness, and to knowledge. There is no strand to escape into.