Bhagavad Gita — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga, Shloka 19

Moksha Sannyasa Yoga

Devanagari script

ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः । प्रोच्यते गुणसंख्याने यथावच्छृणु तान्यपि ॥ १८.१९ ॥

Transliteration

jñānaṁ karma ca kartā ca tridhaiva guṇabhedataḥ | procyate guṇasaṅkhyāne yathāvac chṛṇu tāny api || 18.19 ||

Translation

ஞானம், கர்மம், கர்த்தா—இம்மூன்றும் குணங்களின் வேறுபாட்டினால் மூன்று வகைகளாகக் கூறப்படுகின்றன. குணங்களின் விவேசனத்தில் (சாஸ்திரம்) கூறியபடியே அவற்றையும் யதார்த்தமாகக் கேள்.

Gita Press Meaning

ज्ञान, कर्म और कर्ता—ये तीनों ही गुणों के भेद से तीन प्रकार के कहे जाते हैं; गुणों के विवेचन में जैसा (शास्त्र में) कहा गया है, उन्हें भी यथार्थ सुनो।

Critical Edition Meaning

Knowledge, action, and agent are each described as threefold, by distinction of the guṇas; as stated in the enumeration of guṇas, hear them as they are.

Comparative Note

Traditional translations sometimes paraphrase ‘guṇasaṅkhyāna’ as ‘the teaching that counts/explains the guṇas (e.g., Sāṅkhya-like analysis)’. Academic translations preserve the technical sense of ‘enumeration/classification’ without committing to a specific school beyond the Gītā’s own usage.

Word by Word

• ज्ञानम्: knowledge
• Root: ज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक)

• कर्म: action
• Root: कर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)

• च: and
• Root: च

• कर्ता: the doer (agent)
• Root: कर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)

• च: and
• Root: च

• त्रिधा: in three ways
• Root: त्रिधा

• एव: indeed/only
• Root: एव

• गुणभेदतः: according to the distinctions of the guṇas
• Root: गुण-भेद (प्रातिपदिक)

• प्रोच्यते: is declared/ is taught
• Root: √वच्

• गुणसंख्याने: in the enumeration/account of the guṇas (i.e., in Sāṅkhya)
• गुणसंख्याने: Adhikarana
• Root: गुण-संख्यान (प्रातिपदिक)

• यथावत्: properly/as it truly is
• Root: यथावत्

• शृणु: hear/listen
• Root: √श्रु

• तानि: those (things)
• तानि: Karma
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• अपि: also/even
• Root: अपि

Speakers

• Krishna

Primary Concepts

• Guṇas (sattva-rajas-tamas)
• Karma
• Moral psychology

Key Themes

• Typology
• Ethical discernment
• Integration of metaphysics and psychology

FAQs

Psychological significance?

The verse proposes that cognition, behavior, and the sense of self-as-agent vary with temperament (guṇas). It anticipates a nuanced psychology in which motives and clarity differ across sattva, rajas, and tamas.

Metaphysical meaning?

By tying knowledge and agency to guṇas, the text treats embodied experience as conditioned by prakṛti-like qualities, while still allowing for a higher standpoint (later associated with renunciation and steadiness).

Contextual relevance?

It introduces the next sequence (18.20 onward) where each category—knowledge, action, and agent—is defined under the three guṇas.

Modern Application?

It supports self-assessment: one can examine whether one’s understanding, work-style, and self-image are driven by clarity, restlessness, or inertia, and adjust habits accordingly.