Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 11
सर्वद्वारेषु देहेऽस्मिन्प्रकाश उपजायते।ज्ञानं यदा तदा विद्याद्विवृद्धं सत्त्वमित्युत।।
sarva-dvāreṣu dehe ’smin prakāśa upajāyate
jñānaṁ yadā tadā vidyād vivṛddhaṁ sattvam ity uta
also searched as "Sarvadvareshu dehe'smin prakasha upajayate"
Translation
When knowledge, like light, illuminates from all gateways (i.e., the senses), then one should know that Sattva prevails.
Vāṇi's rendering
When light pours through every gate of the body, and knowing is easy — clarity has the upper hand.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सर्वद्वारेषुsarva-dvāreṣu | in all the gates — every doorway of perception: eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose, mind |
| देहेdehe | in the body |
| अस्मिन्asmin | this (joined in sandhi as dehe 'smin — 'in this body') |
| प्रकाशःprakāśaḥ | light, luminosity, brightness |
| उपजायतेupajāyate | arises, comes forth, is born |
| ज्ञानम्jñānam | knowing, understanding |
| यदाyadā | when |
| तदाtadā | then |
| विद्यात्vidyāt | one should know, let one recognise |
| विवृद्धम्vivṛddham | grown strong, increased, having the upper hand |
| सत्त्वम्sattvam | sattva — clarity, lucidity, the quality of light |
| इतिiti | thus, in this way |
| उतuta | indeed (a small word of emphasis) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 11 mean?
It gives you a way to recognise sattva at work in yourself. When every gate of the body — sight, hearing, touch, thought — seems lit, and understanding arrives without strain, clarity has the upper hand. Krishna is not describing a rare state. He is naming something you have already felt and never labelled.
What does sarvadvareshu dehe'smin prakasha upajayate mean?
Literally, light arises in all the gates of this body. The senses are doorways; sattva shows itself as brightness in every one of them at once. Not a vision, not a light you see — the lit quality of an ordinary morning when nothing needs deciphering and the mind is not arguing with what it meets.
How can I tell whether sattva is rising in me?
Krishna's mark is ease of knowing. Ask whether understanding is coming without force, whether perception feels clean rather than clouded or agitated. If it does, sattva has grown strong. Rajas would show as restlessness and craving; tamas as fog and inertia. The diagnosis is meant to be made inwardly, not about others.
If clarity comes and goes, what use is recognising it?
Great use. The guṇas rotate; sattva is a season, not a possession. Knowing when you are in it means you stop wasting it. The lucid hour is when the hard letter gets written, the honest conversation gets had, the real decision gets made. Recognition is what lets you spend the light well.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna gives Arjuna a test he can run without a teacher. The gates are the eyes, the ears, the skin, the mind — and you already know the difference between a morning when they open clean and a morning when they don't. Nothing here is asked of belief. When understanding comes without forcing, when the room seems lit from inside, sattva has risen; that is all. It will not stay. Clarity is weather too, and it passes like the rest. So the instruction hidden in the diagnosis is simple: when the light is in the room, do the work that needs light.