A core teaching · reflective in mood · a little context helps
“What dominates the mind is temporary, not who you are.”
Arjuna, when rajas and tamas are subdued, sattva rises. When sattva and tamas are subdued, rajas rises. When sattva and rajas are subdued, tamas rises.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallypassion · inertia · and · having overpowered · purity, clarity · becomes · Arjuna · passion · purity, clarity · inertia · and · indeed · inertia · purity, clarity · passion · likewise
The three qualities keep replacing one another. When one becomes stronger, the others are pushed down.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga" (The Three Modes of Material Nature).
Verse 10 sits in Chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita — Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga, "The Three Modes of Material Nature". The chapter has 27 verses in total.
A farmer may wake clear-headed, turn anxious by noon over the price of onions, and feel dull by evening. Krishna describes that rotation: whichever quality overpowers the other two takes charge for a while.
Did you like this verse?
The gunas compete: one rises by pressing down the other two, so inner states keep changing.
What this verse means
The three qualities keep replacing one another. When one becomes stronger, the others are pushed down.
Context & commentary
Krishna explains how the three qualities shape every mind and action. This verse adds the moving pattern: one quality rises only by suppressing the others, showing that inner states are always in flux.
What it looks like today
A farmer may wake clear-headed, turn anxious by noon over the price of onions, and feel dull by evening. Krishna describes that rotation: whichever quality overpowers the other two takes charge for a while.
“You can stop treating your moods as permanent. What dominates now will not stay forever.”
Explore related themes: gunas (47 verses), sattva (26 verses), rajas (21 verses)