Bhagavad Gita 18.19 Meaning: Jnanam karma cha karta cha

Bhagavad Gita 18.19

ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः ।प्रोच्यते गुणसङ्ख्याने यथावच्छृणु तान्यपि ॥

Jnanam karma cha karta cha tridhaiva gunabhedatahProchyate gunasankhyane yathavachchhrinu tanyapi

jñānaṃ karma ca kartā ca tridhaiva guṇabhedataḥ |procyate guṇasaṅkhyāne yathāvacchṛṇu tānyapi ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation Krishna says that knowledge, action and the doer are each of three kinds, by the difference of the guṇas, as the science of the guṇas teaches. He asks Arjuna to hear about these too.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि गुणों के भेद से ज्ञान, कर्म और कर्ता भी तीन-तीन प्रकार के हैं, जैसा गुणों की गणना करने वाला शास्त्र बताता है। वे अर्जुन से इन्हें भी ठीक-ठीक सुनने को कहते हैं।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

ज्ञानम् jñānam · knowledge (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: jñāna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 426, col. 1 “knowing, becoming acquainted with, knowledge”
कर्म karma · action (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: karman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 258, col. 2 “act, action, performance, business”
च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
कर्ता kartā · the doer (noun (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: kartṛ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 257, col. 3 “one who makes or does or acts or effects, a doer, maker, agent, author”
च ca · and (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. ca, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 380, col. 1 “and, both, also, moreover, as well as”
त्रिधा tridhā · in three ways (indeclinable) Dictionary: tri-dhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 458, col. 3 “in 3 ways, in 3 parts, in 3 places, triply”
एव eva · only (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
गुणभेदतः guṇabhedataḥ · by the difference of the guṇas (indeclinable) Dictionary: guṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 357, col. 1 “(in Sāṃkhya phil.) an ingredient or constituent of Prakṛiti, chief quality of all existing beings”; bheda, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 766, col. 1 “distinction, difference, kind, sort, species, variety”
प्रोच्यते procyate · is declared (present passive, 3rd person singular) Dictionary: pra-vac, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 690, col. 1 “to proclaim, announce, praise, commend, mention, teach, impart, explain”
गुणसङ्ख्याने guṇasaṅkhyāne · in the counting of the guṇas (compound (neuter), locative singular) Dictionary: guṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 357, col. 1 “(in Sāṃkhya phil.) an ingredient or constituent of Prakṛiti, chief quality of all existing beings”; saṃ-khyāna, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1128, col. 2 “reckoning up, enumeration, calculation”
यथावत् yathāvat · duly, as they are (indeclinable) Dictionary: yathā-vat, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 843, col. 1 “duly, properly, rightly, suitably, exactly”
शृणु śṛṇu · hear (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 1. śru, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1100, col. 3 “to hear, listen or attend to anything”
तानि tāni · them (pronoun (neuter), accusative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
अपि api · also (indeclinable) Dictionary: api, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 55, col. 1 “in the sense of even, also, very”

2 printings differ

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः ।
प्रोच्यन्ते गुणसङ्ख्याने यथावच्छृणु तान्यपि ॥
Word The 1922 Madras printing reads: प्रोच्यन्ते गुणसङ्ख्याने यथावच्छृणु तान्यपि The 1922 base printing (leaf n253) reads the plural प्रोच्यन्ते ('are declared'). Under decision 14 the display follows the common wording, the singular प्रोच्यते ('is declared'), printed by Gita Press (p. 189) and read in sanskritdocuments.org, GRETIL and Sanskrit Wikisource. Telang's 'are declared' and Besant's 'are said' fit either.

Bhagavad Gita 18.19: meaning and translation

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