Sanskrit
त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभिः सर्वमिदं जगत् । मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्यः परमव्ययम् ॥ १३ ॥
tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṃ jagat mohitaṃ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
Translation
All this world, deluded by these natures made by the three qualities, knoweth not Me, above these, imperishable.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
This is the delusion mechanism verse 12 makes possible: because the three gunas are what everyone directly experiences, and because they obscure rather than reveal their source, “this world” collectively fails to recognize the imperishable reality standing behind its own conditioning. Verse 14 names this obscuring power directly. The guṇas work as a screen precisely by being everything one perceives: there is no vantage outside them from which to notice the param avyayam, the imperishable beyond. BG 7.14 gives that screen its name.
Study deeper
Word by word
- tribhir guṇamayair bhāvairत्रिभिः गुणमयैः भावैः
- by these three states made of the guṇas (tribhiḥ + guṇa-mayaiḥ + bhāvaiḥ)
- ebhiḥ sarvam idaṃ jagatएभिः सर्वं इदं जगत्
- by these, all this world (ebhiḥ + sarvam + idam + jagat)
- mohitaṃ nābhijānātiमोहितं नाभिजानाति
- deluded, does not recognize (mohitam + na + abhijānāti)
- mām ebhyaḥ param avyayamमां एभ्यः परं अव्ययं
- Me, beyond these, imperishable (mām + ebhyaḥ + param + avyayam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The trap described here is specific: the three gunas aren’t just objects the world fails to see past, they’re the very lens the world is seeing with. There’s no gap the deluded person could step into to get an unconditioned look, because the conditioning is doing the looking. That’s a harder problem than simple ignorance — it isn’t that the answer is hidden, it’s that the instrument doing the searching is itself part of what’s obscuring it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're stuck seeing a situation only one way, consider that the very lens you're using to evaluate it — your habitual mood, your usual assumptions — might be the same thing blocking a clearer view. You can't just look harder with the same lens; you need a different one.
Professional
- When a team keeps missing the same blind spot, consider that the process or metrics they're using to evaluate their own work might be the same thing causing the blind spot. More analysis with the same flawed instrument won't fix it — the instrument itself needs to change.
Family & Social
- If you keep misreading the same person the same way, consider that your usual way of interpreting them — the assumption you always reach for — might be exactly what's preventing you from seeing them clearly. Try consciously setting that lens aside, not just looking harder through it.
Ask yourself
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