Bhagavad Gita 14.6

tatra sattvaṁ nirmalatvāt

prakāśakam anāmayam

sukha-saṅgena badhnāti

jñāna-saṅgena cānagha

 

Goodness, by purity, shines as light,

Clear and healing, stainlessly bright;

It binds the soul with joy’s soft chain,

Tying it to this world of death and pain.

 

My dear Lord, everything in this world is a double-edged sword. The same thing can take me toward reality can also take me toward illusion. The most striking example of this dual potentiality is wisdom.

O supreme benefactor, help me appreciate the power of wisdom in moving from illusion to you, the ultimate reality. Whenever I get a little wisdom, let me never become so proud of it that I start delighting in my superiority over those not as wise as I am and neglect you in the process.

O supremely wise Lord, help me see nature’s mode of goodness—which has wisdom as a defining characteristic—as good, and yet not good enough. It is good because, when I am situated in the mode of goodness, I can resist and reject the craving and resentment that characterize the other two lower modes and that consume most of the emotional energy of most of humanity for most of their lifetimes. Yet it is not good enough, because that very calmness—resulting from the wisdom to see the inadequacy of all material things—can lead me to feel superior to those who are not as wise.

O supreme lover, let wisdom and goodness enable and energize me to seek shelter in the supreme reality of your unfailing, unflinching, unfaltering love.

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14.06 O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge.