Verses 18.29–18.35
बुद्धेर्भेदं धृतेश्चैव गुणतस्त्रिविधं शृणु | प्रोच्यमानमशेषेण पृथक्त्वेन धनञ्जय
buddherbhedaṁ dhṛteś cai ‘va guṇatastrividhaṁ śṛṇu / procyamānamaśeṣeṇa pṛthaktvena dhanañjaya / / 18.29
Now hear Me explain, fully and separately, the threefold division of intellect and resolve, based on modes of material Nature, O Dhanañjaya.
प्रवृत्तिंच निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये | बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्तिबुद्धि: सा पार्थ सात्विकी
pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca kāryakārye bhayābhaye / bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī / / 18.30
O Arjuna, that intellect is in the mode of goodness which understands the path of work and the path of renunciation, right and wrong action, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation.
यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च | अयथावत्प्रजानाति बुद्धि: सा पार्थ राजसी
yayā dharmamadharmaṁ ca kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca / ayathāvat prajānāti buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī / / 18.31
That intellect is in the mode of passion that cannot dis- tinguish between principles of right conduct and wrong doing, and right and wrong action, O Pārtha (Arjuna).
अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसावृता | सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धि: सा पार्थ तामसी
adharmaṁ dharmamiti yā manyate tamasā ’vṛtā / sarvārthānviparītāṁśca buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī / / 18.32
That intellect is in the mode of ignorance that accepts unrighteousness as righteousness and thinks everything to be that which it is not, O Pārtha.
धृत्या यया धारयते मन:प्राणेन्द्रियक्रिया: | योगेनाव्यभिचारिण्या धृति: सा पार्थ सात्विकी
dhṛtyā yayā dhārayate manaḥ-prāṇendriya-kriyāḥ / yogenāvyabhicāriṇyā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī / / 18.33
Consistent and continuous determination in controlling the mind, breath and senses for uniting with the Divine is goodness, Pārtha.
यया तु धर्मकामार्थान्धृत्या धारयतेऽर्जुन | प्रसङ्गेन फलाकाङ् क्षी धृति: सा पार्थ राजसी
yayā tu dharma kāmārthān dhṛtyā dhārayate ‘rjuna / prasaṅgena phalākāṅkṣī dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha rājasī / / 18.34
Craving for results of action while clinging to goals of proper conduct, pleasure and wealth is the state of passion, Arjuna.
यया स्वप्नं भयं शोकं विषादं मदमेव च | न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेधा धृति: सा पार्थ तामसी
yayā svapnaṁ bhayaṁ śokaṁ viṣādaṁ madameva ca / na vimuñcati durmedhā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī / / 18.35
Ignorant resolve which cannot go beyond dreaming, fear, grief, despair and, delusion—such is in darkness, Pārtha.
Here Kṛṣṇa refers to the approach known as defining the puruṣārtha or meanings of life. Dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa are the four puruṣārtha. These can be translated as righteousness, wealth, desire or lust and liberation. These are the four-fold meanings of life. I prefer not to call them the purposes of life. There is no purpose to life. Once we fix a purpose to life, it becomes a goalpost and attachments and expectations result. Life is a path without a destination. Once we assume there is a destination, we hurry. The future becomes a stress-inducing factor. Let us say we travel from New York to Washington. Once we fix Washington as our destination, the next issue is, ‘When will we reach there?’
From then on, we are constantly tormented by, ‘When will we reach there?’ It is a different matter that we may have nothing to do in Washington once we arrive, and therefore there is no need to hurry! In the process we do not enjoy the journey. The journey becomes an irritation that we must cross in order to reach our destination. In life, do not fix a destination. Each journey must be enjoyed being in the space of completion. The path and the journey are what life is. Life is completion. I tell you, have the space of completion for yourself. That will attract all the right experiences. Completion is power!
Completion is Life! Enjoy the people you meet, the experiences you have and what you pick up on the way, without being greedy to acquire more. The journey, the path, becomes so enjoyable that whatever destination you reach is the right destination. Completion gets you all the best things of life! Completion is the basic need of life. People who attach a purpose to life are disturbed. Philosophers who have no other work create false purposes to life. Philosophers exist to confuse people whereas mystics solve problems and provide guidance to awaken intelligence. When we let life lead us, when we let life enrich us, when we take life as it comes, we enjoy every moment.
We truly live with completion in the present, like a God. We realize and manifest our potential, possibility and reality! As of now, man is only a possibility. A human being has everything in him to become the ultimate reality, the divine reality. Puruṣārtha provides four meanings to life: Dharma is right conduct or virtue. Dharma means the natural law Mokṣa Sannyāsa Yogaḥ Drop Everything And Surrender 1289 of the cosmos. Buddha preached this as the middle path. It is an independent intelligence. The very DNA structure with which human consciousness is built, the natural law of human life, the dharma are these four principles. Constantly give life to the four dharmas of authenticity, integrity, responsibility and enriching.
When you protect dharma, it protects you. When you are integrated to it, it is integrated to you. When you are authentic with it, it is authentic with you. When you take responsibility for it, it takes responsibility for you. When you enrich dharma, it enriches you. Only then it is possible that your energy is awakened. Only then is your energy awakened. Artha is the stuff that we pick up on our path and journey, the material things that we need to sustain ourselves. Kāma is the pleasure of the senses we experience and enjoy on this journey. These are rightful acquisitions and pleasurable experiences. Do not feel disturbed by the need for these.
But do not become caught up in them and forget to move on the path with completion and enjoy the journey to the fullest. Mokṣa or liberation is the ultimate meaning to life. The meaning of human life is you experiencing completion, and working, radiating, showering others also with the same space of completion. This is the culmination of the liberation from expectation, desires, greed and fear, and liberation from attachment to desires. This understanding that experiencing completion with non-attachment and absence of expectation leads to liberation can fill us with bliss. Here Kṛṣṇa gives the essence of how we should lead our lives to make it meaningful with completion.
He says that goodness or satva is the state of completion in which there is clarity about right and wrong, and whatever we do with our body, mind and senses is done with a view to liberate ourselves from attachment and desires in order to realize that we are Divine. Delusion Of Senses