Gita 13.21

Kshetra Kshetragna Vibhaga Yoga

पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान् | कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु ||२१||

puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛti-jān guṇān | kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu ||21||

In essence: The soul seated in nature experiences the gunas; attachment to these gunas causes birth in higher and lower wombs.

A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply

Sadhak-Guru Dialogue

Sadhak: "If even sattvic attachment leads to rebirth, should I cultivate indifference to good qualities?"

Guru: "Not indifference—transcendence. Indifference is tamasic. Transcendence means appreciating sattva, functioning through sattva, while recognizing: 'This clarity is prakriti's quality, not my identity.' The sage may live in perfect sattva but doesn't cling to it. If sattva faded, they wouldn't despair. This is the difference: the attached person fears losing their sattvic state; the free person allows whatever guna arises."

Sadhak: "How does attachment form in the first place? If the purusha is pure witness, how did it start 'sitting' in prakriti?"

Guru: "The sitting is beginningless—that was established in verse 19. But 'how it started' is the wrong question. The right question is: 'How do I stop sitting?' You stop by seeing. Right now, notice: are you the body or the one aware of the body? This seeing, repeated and deepened, loosens the seat. The purusha doesn't climb out of prakriti—it simply stops claiming residency."

Sadhak: "But I'm genuinely attracted to beautiful things, meaningful relationships, spiritual experiences. These attachments feel natural."

Guru: "They are natural—to prakriti. The body-mind is designed to attach. But you are not the body-mind. When you see beauty, notice: 'The senses perceive form; the mind labels it beautiful; attraction arises.' All of this is prakriti. You are the presence in which this chain occurs. That presence doesn't need to attach—it simply witnesses attachment happening. Let prakriti attach; you stay clear."

Did this resonate with you? Share it with someone who needs to hear this.

🌅 Daily Practice

🌅 Morning

Attachment check: Before the day's activities, identify three things you're currently attached to (could be outcomes, relationships, states of mind). For each, practice: 'This is a guna-experience. My purusha witnesses but need not cling.' This doesn't eliminate the attachment but begins loosening it.

☀️ Daytime

Guna-tasting: As experiences arise through the day—pleasure, discomfort, boredom—notice which guna they represent and observe the pull to attach. 'This pleasant feeling is sattvic; I notice attraction to more of it.' The noticing itself creates space between experience and attachment.

🌙 Evening

Womb contemplation: Reflect on the fact that your current life is a result of past attachments. What attachments are you cultivating now that will shape future conditions? This isn't meant to create anxiety but to bring conscious awareness to the seeds you're planting. Before sleep, set intention: 'May I experience without attaching.'

Common Questions

If attachment determines my next birth, what about actions? Doesn't karma determine birth?

Attachment and karma are deeply linked. Action alone doesn't bind—it's action combined with ownership and attachment. When you act without attachment, karma becomes 'nishkama karma' which doesn't bind. When you act with attachment—wanting results, fearing consequences—karma accumulates. So yes, karma determines birth, but karma is created and maintained through attachment. Address attachment, and you address the root of karmic bondage.

Does 'sitting in prakriti' mean the soul literally enters the body?

Not literally. The soul is all-pervading consciousness and doesn't 'enter' or 'leave' in a spatial sense. 'Sitting in prakriti' means identifying with a particular body-mind complex, taking it as one's location and limit. It's a cognitive sitting, not a physical one. When identification ends, the soul doesn't 'leave' the body—it simply stops claiming exclusive residence.

Can one birth undo countless lives of attachment?

Yes. This is the promise of knowledge. Attachment is sustained by ignorance. One moment of true seeing can end what countless moments of unseeing created. It's like waking from a dream: the dream may have lasted subjectively for years, but the waking takes only an instant. The key is genuine insight, not mere intellectual understanding. When you truly see your nature as witness, attachments formed over lifetimes lose their foundation.

← Verse 13.20 Verse 13.22 →