Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 14
यदा सत्त्वे प्रवृद्धे तु प्रलयं याति देहभृत्।तदोत्तमविदां लोकानमलान्प्रतिपद्यते।।
yadā sattve pravṛddhe tu pralayaṁ yāti deha-bhṛt
tadottama-vidāṁ lokān amalān pratipadyate
also searched as "yada sattve pravrddhe tu pralayam yati deha-bhrt"
Translation
If the embodied self dissolves when Sattva prevails, then it proceeds to the pure worlds of those who know the highest.
Vāṇi's rendering
Die while clarity rules, and you rise to the stainless worlds of those who know the highest.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| यदाyadā | when |
| सत्त्वेsattve | in clarity, the luminous strand of nature |
| प्रवृद्धेpravṛddhe | having grown strong, prevailing |
| तुtu | indeed; marking the contrast with what follows |
| प्रलयम्pralayaṁ | dissolution, the coming apart of the body |
| यातिyāti | goes, meets |
| देहभृत्deha-bhṛt | the body-bearer, the one carrying a body |
| तदाtadā | then (joined by sandhi to the next word as tadottama-) |
| उत्तमविदाम्uttama-vidāṁ | of those who know the highest |
| लोकान्lokān | worlds, realms |
| अमलान्amalān | stainless, without a speck |
| प्रतिपद्यतेpratipadyate | arrives at, comes into |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 14 mean?
It means the state of mind that prevails when the body dissolves decides where the self goes next. If sattva — clarity, light, quiet seeing — is what rules at that hour, one arrives at stainless worlds, the realms of those who know the highest. Death continues the mind's direction rather than reversing it.
What does yada sattve pravrddhe tu pralayam yati deha-bhrt teach?
That the body-bearer leaves in the company of whatever has grown strong within. Krishna is not describing a lottery at the deathbed. Sattva must have been cultivated long enough to be prevailing — pravṛddhe. What you tend daily is what will be standing when everything else lets go.
Can I really control my state of mind at the moment of death?
Not by deciding it that morning. You shape it now, by what you feed and what you starve. Krishna's word is pravṛddhe — grown, increased. Clarity that has been watered for years does not abandon you when the body fails. Practice is simply making sattva the habit that outlasts you.
What are the stainless worlds mentioned in this verse?
Amalān lokān — realms without a speck, belonging to those who know the highest. Krishna is not selling real estate. He is saying clarity leads into more clarity, and every strand of nature delivers you somewhere like itself. The destination is already being built by today's inner weather.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Chapter fourteen has been describing three weathers of the mind; now Krishna tells you what each one does at the last moment. Sattva is clarity — light, quiet, unclouded seeing. If the body falls while that is what rules, the going is upward, into worlds without stain. This is not a reward for good behaviour. It is a continuity: whatever holds the mind at the end carries it onward, the way a boat keeps the direction it was pointed. Arjuna is being told that dying is not a separate event; it is the last honest report of how you were living. So watch what rules you now.