Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 19

ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः । प्रोच्यते गुणसङ्ख्याने यथावच्छृणु तान्यपि

jñānaṃ karma ca kartā ca tridhaiva guṇabhedataḥ | procyate guṇasaṅkhyāne yathāvacchṛṇu tānyapi

Translation

Knowledge and action, and the agent, are said in the science of the guṇas to be of three kinds only, according to the distinction in guṇas. Hear thou duly of them.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

jñānam

knowledge

karma

action

ca

and

kartā

actor

ca

and

tridhā

threefold

eva

even

guṇabhedataḥ

of guṇas, from the division

procyate

is said

guṇasaṅkhyāne

of guṇas, in the enumeration

yathāvat

exactly

śṛṇu

hear

tāni

these

api

also

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Action (karma): 'karma' here means action (kriyā). Agent: the performer of acts. Of three kinds only — this restriction is intended to imply the absence of distinctions other than that caused by the guṇas. The science of the guṇas here referred to is Kapila's system of philosophy. Though Kapilas are opposed to us as regards the supreme truth of the non-duality of Brahman, still the followers of Kapila are of acknowledged authority in the exposition of the functions of the guṇas and of their products.