Three qualities of Nature there exist: Sattva the bright, Rajas the passionate, and Tamas, dark and dull. These bind the soul
How to render 'dehinam avyayam' -- the imperishable embodied soul -- reveals each translator's core commitment. Arnold dramatizes the paradox: a soul 'which hath no end nor death' is bound 'within its form' by three qualities. Swarupananda preserves the Vedantic technical term 'indestructible embodied one,' while Wilkins, writing for an Enlightenment audience, calls it 'the incorruptible soul,' importing a recognizably Christian overtone. All four keep the Sanskrit gunas untranslated (sattwa/rajas/tamas), acknowledging no English equivalent is adequate.
Krishna expounds the three gunas that constitute material nature: sattva (goodness, illumination), rajas (passion, restless activity), and tamas (darkness, inertia). Every being is bound by these three forces. Liberation comes from transcending all three — rising above even sattva to pure consciousness.
The foundational doctrine of the three gunas (qualities) that govern all of nature and human psychology.
