Upanishads · Yājñavalkya p6
॥
Devanāgarī
त्रैधातवीयामेव कुर्यात् । एतयैव त्रयो धातवो यदुत सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति
Transliteration (IAST)
traidhātavīyāmeva kuryāt | etayaiva trayo dhātavo yaduta sattvaṃ rajastama iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
त्रैधातवीम् एव कुर्यात्traidhātavīm eva kuryātlet him perform the threefold [sacrifice]
एतया एव त्रयः धातवःetayā eva trayaḥ dhātavaḥby it, the three constituents
यत् उत सत्त्वंyat uta sattvaṃnamely sattva
रजः तमः इतिrajaḥ tamaḥ itirajas and tamas
Translation
Let him perform the threefold [sacrifice]; by it, the three constituents, namely sattva, rajas, and tamas.
Version
13987dd8db86 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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Traidhātavī, the "threefold" sacrifice, is named, and is immediately interpreted: the three dhātu are the three guṇas. It is worth noting that the word dhātu means "constituent element, substance"; in medical books it names the seven bodily tissues, and in grammar the root of a word. Here it is applied to the guṇas; and this interpretation is apparently a reinterpretation of a rite that once meant something else.
But the sense of the reinterpretation is clear: the one departing offers up that of which his material being is composed. Let us compare this with the Gītā, where the transcendence of the guṇas is discussed in detail. There it is called guṇātīta, "having transcended the guṇas," and its signs are listed: "he neither hates light, activity, and delusion when they arise, nor desires them when they cease" (14.22).
The sign given is negative and gentle: not "he destroyed the guṇas," but "he neither hates nor desires." That is, transcending the guṇas is not their extermination; it is a change of relation to what comes and goes regardless. Let us add how the Gītā ends this chapter, discussed when reading the Pañcabrahma (8): māṃ ca yo'vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate, sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate, "one who serves Me with unswerving devotion, having transcended these guṇas, is fit for being brahman" (14.26).
That is, the means of transcendence is named not sacrifice and not reflection, but service; and transcendence turns out to be a side-effect, not the object of effort.