Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 10
रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत।रजः सत्त्वं तमश्चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस्तथा।।
rajas tamaś cābhibhūya sattvaṁ bhavati bhārata
rajaḥ sattvaṁ tamaś caiva tamaḥ sattvaṁ rajas tathā
also searched as "rajas tamas cabhibhuya sattvam bhavati bharata"
Translation
Prevailing over Rajas and Tamas, Sattva predominates, O Arjuna. Prevailing over Tamas and Sattva, Rajas predominates. Prevailing over Rajas and Sattva, Tamas predominates.
Vāṇi's rendering
The three take turns ruling: now clarity rises over the others, now restlessness, now darkness.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| रजःrajaḥ | restlessness, the drive to move and grasp (sandhi: rajas before tamaḥ) |
| तमःtamaḥ | darkness, heaviness, dullness (sandhi: tamaś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| अभिभूयabhibhūya | having overpowered, pressing down |
| सत्त्वम्sattvaṁ | clarity, lucidity, the quality of light |
| भवतिbhavati | comes to be, rises up |
| भारतbhārata | O Arjuna, of Bharata's line |
| रजःrajaḥ | restlessness |
| सत्त्वम्sattvaṁ | clarity |
| तमःtamaḥ | darkness (sandhi: tamaś before ca) |
| चca | and |
| एवeva | indeed, just so |
| तमःtamaḥ | darkness |
| सत्त्वम्sattvaṁ | clarity |
| रजःrajaḥ | restlessness (sandhi: rajas before tathā) |
| तथाtathā | likewise, in the same way |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 10 mean?
It means the three guṇas rule in rotation. Sattva rises only by overpowering rajas and tamas; then rajas rises over the other two; then tamas. No quality holds the throne. Your inner climate is a succession, not a fixed state — which is why one good morning proves nothing and one bad night decides nothing.
What does rajas tamas cabhibhuya sattvam bhavati bharata mean?
Sattva comes to be by pressing down rajas and tamas, Krishna tells Arjuna. Clarity does not arrive by addition; it arrives when restlessness and heaviness are momentarily subdued. That is also why clarity leaves — the moment the pressure lifts, another guṇa takes its turn at ruling.
If the gunas take turns, can I do anything about which one rules?
You cannot command them, but you can feed them. What you eat, whom you sit with, what you read, how you work — each strengthens one and starves another. The turning continues; you only tilt the odds. And beneath the tilting, you remain the one who notices which guṇa is in the chair.
Why do I feel spiritual one day and dull the next?
Because that alternation is exactly what this verse describes. The dullness is tamas taking its turn, not proof that yesterday's clarity was false. Stop reading your moods as a report card on your progress. Keep doing the practice on the dull days; that steadiness is not a guṇa.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Watch a single day. Morning comes clear — you see what to do and you do it. By afternoon something restless has taken the chair, and by evening a fog you cannot argue with. Krishna names this to Arjuna as weather, not character. The three do not blend; they take turns, each rising by pressing the other two down. Which means the clarity you had yesterday was not an achievement, and the dullness today is not a verdict. Neither one is you. You are what stays seated while the rulers change. Watch the changing of the guard, and stop giving it your name.