Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 13
त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभिः सर्वमिदं जगत्।
मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्यः परमव्ययम्।।
मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्यः परमव्ययम्।।
tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti māmebhyaḥ param avyayam
also searched as "tribhir gunamayair bhavair ebhih sarvam idam jagat"
Translation
The entire universe is deluded by these three states originating from the Gunas (of Prakrti), and fails to recognize Me, who am beyond them and immutable.
Vāṇi's rendering
Bewitched by these three moods of nature, the world does not recognize me — standing beyond them, changeless.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| त्रिभिःtribhiḥ | by the three |
| गुणमयैःguṇa-mayaiḥ | made of the strands of nature — clarity, restlessness, inertia |
| भावैःbhāvaiḥ | moods, states of being |
| एभिःebhiḥ | these |
| सर्वम्sarvam | all, entire |
| इदम्idam | this |
| जगत्jagat | world, everything that moves |
| मोहितम्mohitam | bewildered, bewitched |
| नna | not (joins with the next word by sandhi: nābhijānāti) |
| अभिजानातिabhijānāti | recognizes, knows through and through |
| माम्mām | me (joins with the next word by sandhi: māmebhyaḥ) |
| एभ्यःebhyaḥ | than these |
| परम्param | beyond, higher |
| अव्ययम्avyayam | changeless, never spent |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 13 mean?
It says the whole world is under a spell cast by three moods of nature, and so cannot recognize Krishna standing beyond them, changeless. The spell is not darkness. It is absorption — being so taken by clarity, restlessness or heaviness that you never ask what holds them all.
What does 'tribhir gunamayair bhavair ebhih sarvam idam jagat' mean?
Bewitched by these three moods of nature, the world does not recognize me. Every state you pass through — bright, driven, dull — is woven of the same three strands. They are real, they are his, and they are not him. He is what does not shift when they do.
If the three gunas come from Krishna, why do they hide him?
Because a thing made of moods can only show moods. The strands do exactly what they are for: they turn out a world. They were never built to point past themselves. Krishna says he is param avyayam — beyond them, unspent. The covering is not malice. It is simply what nature is.
How do I stop being deluded by the gunas?
Not by fighting a mood. Start by naming it: this is restlessness, this is heaviness, this is a bright hour. The moment you can name it, you are already not it. Krishna does not ask you to feel differently. He asks you to notice who is doing the noticing.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Bewitched is the right word — not blinded. The world sees perfectly well; it sees sattva, rajas, tamas, and calls that everything. Clarity, restlessness, heaviness: these three moods rise and fall in you all day, and each one, while it lasts, feels like the truth about your life. Krishna says the moods are his, and he is not in them. What you cannot see is not hidden. It is standing behind the weather, unchanged, while you keep mistaking the weather for the sky. Next time a mood declares what your life is worth, ask who is watching it pass.