Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 14, Verse 22

श्रीभगवानुवाच । प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव । न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ्क्षति

śrībhagavānuvāca | prakāśaṃ ca pravṛttiṃ ca mohameva ca pāṇḍava | na dveṣṭi sampravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati

Translation

Light and activity and delusion present, O Pāṇḍava, he hates not, nor longs for them absent.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

prakāśam

light

ca

and

pravṛttim

forthgoing

ca

and

moham

delusion

eva

even

ca

and

pāṇḍava

O Pāṇḍava

na

not

dveṣṭi

hates

sampravṛttāni

(when) gone forth

na

not

nivṛttāni

(when) returned

kāṅkṣati

desires

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Light is the effect of Sattva, activity of Rajas, and delusion of Tamas. He does not hate these when present, when they clearly present themselves as objects of consciousness. It is only in the absence of right knowledge that a man hates them. But the man who has risen above the guṇas does not thus hate them when they present themselves to his consciousness. Nor does he long after things which have disappeared. This is a mark which others cannot perceive; it serves as a mark for the individual himself, as it can be perceived by himself alone.