Sanskrit
ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये । मत्त एवेति तान्विद्धि न त्वहं तेषु ते मयि ॥ १२ ॥
ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāś ca ye matta eveti tān viddhi na tv ahaṃ teṣu te mayi
Translation
The natures that are harmonious, active, slothful, these know as from Me; not I in them, but they in me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Having spent verses 8-11 claiming to be the essential quality within things, Krishna now addresses a possible confusion: the three gunas — sattva, rajas, tamas, the harmonious, active, and slothful natures — come from him, but he isn’t contained within them. The relation inverts what verses 8-11 might suggest: not-I-in-them, but they-in-Me — the gunas are downstream of Krishna, not co-equal with him.