3.28
तत्त्ववित्तु महाबाहो गुणकर्मविभागयोः ।
गुणा गुणेषु वर्तन्त इति मत्वा न सज्जते ॥
tattvavit tu mahābāho guṇakarmavibhāgayoḥ
guṇā guṇeṣu vartanta iti matvā na sajjate
śrībhagavān (श्रीभगवान्) is speaking, and tu (तु) turns from the deluded man of 3.27 to the one who knows.
The verse
But the knower of the truth of how qualities and actions divide, O mighty-armed one, thinks "qualities move among qualities," and does not cling.
नेपालीमा
तर गुण र कर्मको छुट्याइको सत्य जान्नेले, हे ठूला पाखुरा भएका, गुणहरू गुणहरूमा चल्छन् भन्ठान्छ, र टाँसिँदैन।
Where it sits
3.27 was the false sentence, "I am the doer," and this is the sentence that replaces it. The freedom that follows is na sajjate (न सज्जते), not a holiday from action, and 3.29 warns him not to pry the other man out of his clinging.
Split: तत्त्व-वित् + तु + महा-बाहो + गुण-कर्म-विभागयोः + गुणाः + गुणेषु + वर्तन्ते + इति + मत्वा + न + सज्जते
tattva-vit + tu + mahā-bāho + guṇa-karma-vibhāgayoḥ + guṇāḥ + guṇeṣu + vartante + iti + matvā + na + sajjate
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| तत्त्व-वित् | tattva-vit | nominative | the knower of the truth. |
| तु | tu | indeclinable | but. |
| महा-बाहो | mahā-bāho | vocative | O mighty-armed one. |
| गुण-कर्म-विभागयोः | guṇa-karma-vibhāgayoḥ | genitive dual | of the two, the distinction of qualities and of actions. |
| गुणाः | guṇāḥ | nominative plural | the qualities. |
| गुणेषु | guṇeṣu | locative plural | among the qualities. |
| वर्तन्ते | vartante | present, 3rd plural, middle | they move, they act. |
| इति | iti | indeclinable | thus. |
| मत्वा | matvā | gerund of man (मन्) | having thought. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| सज्जते | sajjate | present, 3rd singular, middle | he clings. |
The phrases
tattvavit tu mahābāho guṇakarmavibhāgayoḥ (तत्त्ववित् तु महाबाहो गुणकर्मविभागयोः) names the man and what he knows. But the knower of the truth about how qualities and actions divide. तत्त्ववित् + तु tattva-vit + tu is tattvavit tu (तत्त्ववित्तु), the two t (त्) sounds meeting.
guṇāḥ guṇeṣu vartante iti matvā (गुणाः गुणेषु वर्तन्ते इति मत्वा) is the sentence he holds. "The qualities move among the qualities," having thought that. guṇāḥ (गुणाः) before guṇeṣu (गुणेषु) is guṇā (गुणा). वर्तन्ते + इति vartante + iti is recited vartanta iti (वर्तन्त इति).
na sajjate (न सज्जते) is what that thought does to him. He does not cling.
Sanskrit in this line
ए + इ e + i does not stay e (ए). वर्तन्ते + इति vartante + iti is recited vartanta iti (वर्तन्त इति). The e (ए) becomes a (अ), and the i (इ) of iti (इति) remains, with a gap between them. The word is still vartante (वर्तन्ते), "they move." A reciter who hears vartanta (वर्तन्त) as a different verb has lost the sandhi.
Say it back
The sentence he thinks, and what he does not do afterward. If guṇā guṇeṣu (गुणा गुणेषु) becomes "people do their jobs," the verse has left its grammar.