14-6

तत्र सत्त्वम् निर्मलत्वात् प्रकाशकम् अनामयम् ।
सुख सङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञान सङ्गेन चानघ ॥ ६ ॥

tatra sattvam nirmalatvAt prakAzakam anAmayam |
sukha saGgena badhnAti jJAna saGgena cAnagha || 6 ||

अनघ [anagha] Arjuna, तत्र [tatra] in the three qualities , सत्त्वम् [sattvam] the quality of serenity प्रकाशकम् [prakAzakam] illuminates and lets us know everything, निर्मलत्वात् [nirmalatvAt] by being flawless. अनामयम् [anAmayam] It has no disease associated with it. बध्नाति [badhnAti] It binds सुख सङ्गेन [sukha saGgena] due to attachment towards such comfort ज्ञान सङ्गेन च [jJAna saGgena ca] and due to attachment towards knowledge.

Among the three qualities of sattva , rajas and tamas , the nature of sattva is to illuminate by being flawless. Its flawlessness is in giving the joy of knowing without obscuring anything. Its nature is to generate the joy of knowledge alone - in this way, it is the source of joy.

The word ‘illuminate’ means the realization of anything in its true form.

Sattva is the joy of knowledge.

The quality of sattva does not have any effect that can be called as a disease. It is the source of well-being.

This quality called sattva binds the Self by attaching it to contentment and knowledge. It is the one that attaches a person to the comfort of being content and knowledgeable. As soon as such attachment is born, a person indulges in the material world to achieve it by his occupation or by rituals.

Then, this person is born in a womb, in a form suited to experience the fruits of his pursuit. In this way, the quality of sattva binds the person to experience the joy of knowledge. It rewards the joy of knowledge, again binding a person to this experience and craving for more.

This is called sattva .