Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 45
त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन।
निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्।।
निर्द्वन्द्वो नित्यसत्त्वस्थो निर्योगक्षेम आत्मवान्।।
trai-guṇya-viṣayā vedā nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna
nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-kṣema ātmavān
also searched as "traigunyavishaya veda nistraigunyo bhavarjuna"
Translation
The Vedas have the three Gunas as their sphere, O Arjuna. You must be free from the three Gunas and be free from the pairs of opposites. Abide in pure Sattva; never care to acquire things and to protect what has been acquired, but be established in the Self.
Vāṇi's rendering
Scriptures deal in the world's three strands. Rise beyond them — steady, past opposites, past getting and keeping, self-possessed.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| त्रैगुण्यविषयाःtrai-guṇya-viṣayā | having the three strands of nature as their subject matter (final ḥ dropped before v) |
| वेदाःvedā | the Vedas, the scriptures (final ḥ dropped before n) |
| निस्त्रैगुण्यःnistrai-guṇyo | free of the three strands, standing outside them |
| भवbhava | be, become |
| अर्जुनarjuna | Arjuna (joined to bhava by sandhi: bhava + arjuna) |
| निर्द्वन्द्वःnirdvandvo | past the pairs — heat and cold, praise and blame |
| नित्यसत्त्वस्थःnitya-sattva-stho | always settled in clarity, steady |
| निर्योगक्षेमःniryoga-kṣema | unconcerned with getting and with keeping (final ḥ becomes a before ā) |
| आत्मवान्ātmavān | self-possessed, in possession of oneself |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 45 mean?
It means the scriptures work inside the world's three strands, and Krishna is pointing Arjuna past them. Be steady, past opposites, past the labour of getting and keeping, in possession of yourself. The teaching is not anti-scripture. It says the map ends somewhere, and you are asked to walk further than the map.
What is the meaning of traigunyavishaya veda nistraigunyo bhavarjuna?
The Vedas deal in the three strands; Arjuna, stand free of them. Sattva, rajas, tamas — clarity, restlessness, inertia — are the threads of everything nameable, including ritual and its rewards. Krishna does not say the threads are false. He says you are not the cloth, and asks Arjuna to know it.
Is Krishna telling Arjuna to reject the Vedas here?
No. He is telling Arjuna what the Vedas are for. They order desire, they arrange the world of gain and loss, and they do this well. But they describe the strands from inside the strands. Krishna wants Arjuna somewhere the description cannot reach, and only Krishna can point there.
What does niryoga-kshema mean in practical terms?
Yoga is acquiring what you do not have; kṣema is protecting what you do. Together they consume most of a working life. Krishna asks Arjuna to act without that anxiety running underneath — not to own nothing, but to stop measuring each day by what was added and what was defended.
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Commentary
Krishna has just said that the ritual portion of the Vedas promises heaven to those who chant it well. Now he goes further. The scriptures themselves move within the three strands — the restlessness, the heaviness, the clarity that weave every experience you have. They describe the weather; they are not the sky. Arjuna is told to stand where weather does not reach: past heat and cold, past praise and blame, past the endless work of acquiring what you lack and guarding what you hold. Yoga-kṣema — getting and keeping. Most of a life goes there. Krishna asks for something simpler: be self-possessed, and let the ledger close.