Shloka 19
Adhyāya 39 — त्रिगुणविवेकः (Discrimination of the Three Guṇas) and Avyakta-Doctrine
त्रिधा दानानि दीयन्ते त्रिधा यज्ञ: प्रवर्तते । त्रिधा लोकास्त्रिधा देवास्त्रिधा विद्यास्त्रिधा गति:,गुणोंके भेदसे तीन प्रकारसे दान दिये जाते हैं। तीन प्रकारका यज्ञानुष्ठान होता है। लोक, देव, विद्या और गति भी तीन-तीन प्रकारकी होती है
tridhā dānāni dīyante tridhā yajñaḥ pravartate | tridhā lokās tridhā devās tridhā vidyās tridhā gatiḥ ||
Vāyu-deva said: “Gifts are given in three distinct ways, and sacrifice too is undertaken in three ways. Likewise, worlds are threefold, the gods are threefold, knowledge is threefold, and the soul’s course (destiny/attainment) is also threefold.” In context, the verse frames ethical life as governed by the three guṇas: the quality of one’s giving and worship shapes one’s spiritual knowledge and the path one reaches.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Human religious and ethical life is shaped by a threefold classification (implicitly the three guṇas). Giving (dāna) and sacrifice (yajña) are not morally uniform; their quality varies, and that variation corresponds to different kinds of knowledge and different spiritual outcomes (gati).
Vāyu-deva is instructing the listener by laying down a doctrinal framework: many key domains—charity, sacrifice, cosmological realms, divine orders, branches of knowledge, and final attainments—are described as threefold, preparing for or summarizing a guṇa-based ethical evaluation of actions.