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Chapter 14 · Verse 10
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 14, Verse 10

रजस्तमश्चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत। रजः सत्त्वं तमश्चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस्तथा॥

rajastamaścābhibhūya sattvaṁ bhavati bhārata | rajaḥ sattvaṁ tamaścaiva tamaḥ sattvaṁ rajastathā ||

Word by Word 10 words
रजः
rañj to colour, to be excited

rajas, the restless quality of activity

तमः
tam to be dark, to grow faint

tamas, the heavy quality of dullness

च
ca and

and

अभिभूय
abhi over, against bhū to be, to become, to overpower

having overpowered, having risen over, having mastered

सत्त्वम्
as to be, to exist tva the quality of being

sattva, the bright quality of harmony and light

भवति
bhū to be, to become

comes to be, becomes strong, rises up

भारत
bharata Bharata, ancestor of Arjuna's line

O descendant of Bharata (Arjuna)

च
ca and

and (joined within 'caiva')

एव
eva indeed, just, only

indeed, just so (joined within 'caiva')

तथा
tathā so, in the same way, likewise

likewise, in the same way

shows that the three qualities are not fixed: they take turns, like changing weather inside us. Sometimes rises up and rises over and , and we feel calm and clear. At another moment rajas pushes past sattva and tamas, and we feel restless and busy. And at still another moment tamas covers both sattva and rajas, and we feel heavy and dull. Round and round they go, first one and then another taking the lead, all through a single day.

कथा

Aaji and the Day's Three Weathers

An original story

It had been a strange day for Jeeva. In the morning he had felt wonderful, clear-headed and happy, helping Aaji grind the rice, humming a little tune, everything making sense. By the hot middle of the day he had been all fidgets, racing about the courtyard, wanting to do ten things at once and finishing none. And now, in the sleepy late afternoon, he sat slumped against the wall, not wanting to do anything at all.

"Aaji," he said, puzzled, "what is wrong with me? This morning I felt so good and bright. Then I felt all jumpy. Now I feel like a wet sack again. It's the same me, all in one day!"

Aaji was painting a long white Warli wall — a row of stick-figures dancing in a spiral. She did not stop her brush.

"Nothing is wrong with you, little one," she said. "Come, look at the sky today. What did it do?"

Jeeva thought. "In the morning it was clear and golden. At midday big white clouds came racing across. And just now it's gone grey and still, like it might rain."

"Three weathers in one sky, in one day," said Aaji, dipping her brush. "And your mind has three weathers too. The clear bright feeling — that is . The racing, jumpy, busy feeling — that is . The heavy, dull, sleepy feeling — that is . They take turns, little one. They rise up over one another, all day long. First one is on top, then the next pushes it aside, then the third covers them both."

"So I'm not broken?" said Jeeva.

"Not broken at all," Aaji laughed. "You are weather. Everyone is. The sky does not feel ashamed when clouds come, and it does not get proud when the sun shines. It just lets the weathers pass through. The clever thing" — she pointed her dripping brush at the still, blue patch high above the clouds — "is to notice the wide open sky that all three weathers move across. That part of you never changes. That part just watches."

Jeeva tipped his head back and looked at the blue patch between the grey clouds. The heavy feeling was still there — but now he was watching it, the way Aaji watched the sky, and that made all the difference.

चिन्तनम्

Have you noticed your moods changing through a single day — bright, then busy, then sleepy? They take turns like weather. Can you find the quiet 'sky' part of you that simply watches all the weathers come and go?