Hear now the threefold distinction of intellect (buddhi) and also of fortitude (dhrti), according to the Gunas, expounded separately and completely, O Dhananjaya.

The guna-analysis now extends to two more inner faculties: buddhi (the intellect — the capacity for discernment, judgment, and understanding) and dhṛti (fortitude — the quality of inner strength that sustains one through challenges). These are among the most important faculties in the Gita's psychology: buddhi is the instrument of right discrimination between the real and the unreal, the eternal and the transient; dhṛti is what allows one to hold to what is good when everything else pulls against it. To understand how sattva, rajas, and tamas express themselves through these faculties is to gain a precise diagnostic tool for one's inner condition.