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Purity, passion and inertia these alities, O Arjuna, born of Nature, bind fast in the body, the embodied, the indestructible.

Clarity (sattva), passion (rajas) and inertia (tamas), the qualities (guṇa) born of nature, bind the imperishable embodied one in the body, mighty-armed one.

Krishna names the three qualities (guṇa) that arise from nature: sattva, clarity or goodness; rajas, passion or activity; and tamas, inertia or darkness. Together they bind the embodied self, which in itself is imperishable, to the body. The word guṇa can also mean a strand of rope, and some readers see in this an image of three strands twisted together into a cord that ties the self. The rest of the chapter examines each quality: how it shows itself, how it binds, and where it leads. The aim is not only to classify but to free.