Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 22
श्री भगवानुवाचप्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव।न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ्क्षति।।
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
prakāśaṁ ca pravṛttiṁ ca moham eva ca pāṇḍava
na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati
also searched as "prakasham cha pravrittim cha moham eva cha pandava"
Translation
The Lord said, "He does not hate illumination, nor activity, nor even delusion, O Arjuna, while these prevail, nor does He long for them when they cease."
Vāṇi's rendering
The one beyond the three strands neither resents light, activity, or dullness when they come, nor misses them when they go.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| श्रीभगवान्śrī-bhagavān | the radiant Lord, Krishna |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| प्रकाशम्prakāśam | light, the clarity that sattva brings |
| चca | and |
| प्रवृत्तिम्pravṛttim | the outward push to act, restlessness of rajas |
| चca | and |
| मोहम्moham | fog, dullness, the confusion of tamas |
| एवeva | even, indeed |
| चca | and |
| पाण्डवpāṇḍava | O son of Pāṇḍu — Arjuna |
| नna | not |
| द्वेष्टिdveṣṭi | he resents, pushes away |
| सम्प्रवृत्तानिsampravṛttāni | when they have fully arisen, while they are present |
| नna | nor |
| निवृत्तानिnivṛttāni | when they have withdrawn, once they are gone |
| काङ्क्षतिkāṅkṣati | does he long for, miss |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 22 mean?
Krishna answers Arjuna's question about the one who has crossed the three strands. Such a person neither resents clarity, restlessness or fog when they rise, nor pines for them when they subside. The strands still move in him. He has simply stopped quarrelling with their coming and going.
What does prakasham cha pravrittim cha moham eva cha pandava mean?
Prakāśa is light, the clarity of sattva. Pravṛtti is the outward drive of rajas. Moha is the fog of tamas. Krishna names all three and says the freed one hates none of them. Naming them is already distance — you cannot resent what you have learnt to recognise.
Does this verse mean a wise person feels nothing?
No. Krishna does not say the strands cease, only that they are neither hated nor hunted. Dullness still arrives, clarity still departs. What has gone quiet is the running commentary — the seizing when things are bright, the panic when they dim. Feeling remains. The struggle against feeling does not.
How do I practise this when I feel dull and useless?
Stop treating the dullness as a verdict on you. It is tamas passing through, the way weather passes through a valley. Do not fight it, do not narrate it, do not wait anxiously for brightness to return. Sit with the fog, do the next small task. It thins on its own.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna asked how such a person walks and talks. Krishna answers with two refusals, not a description. Light comes — clarity, understanding, the good day — and he does not clutch it. Activity comes, the itch to move; then dullness, the fog, and he does not fight either off. Then they leave, as weather leaves, and he does not stand at the window waiting. Notice what is missing: no claim that the strands stop. Sattva, rajas, tamas keep turning in him as they turn in you. What has ended is the argument with them. You will still have a dull Tuesday. You need not take it personally.