Bhagavad Gita · 14.20 · Yoga through Understanding the Three Modes of Material Nature·20 of 27
गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान्।जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते ॥
guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān
janma-mṛityu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto ’mṛitam aśhnute
Sanskrit recitation
Rising above the gunas · 14.19–14.27 · Teaching
Translation
The embodied one, having crossed beyond these three Gunas from which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay, and pain, and attains immortality.
Meaning
Just as a river is absorbed in the ocean, so also he who has, while still alive, gone beyond the alities which form the seed from which all bodies have sprung and of which they are composed, is absorbed in Me. He ever enjoys the bliss of the Eternal. He attains release or Moksha. He attains to My Being.When the Lord said that the wise man crosses beyond the three alities and attains immortality, Arjuna became inspired with the desire of learning more about it. Just as he has asked a question about the sage of steady wisdom in chapter II, verse 54, he now asks Lord Krishna about the characteristics of a sage who has crossed over the three alities. How does he act What is his conduct or behaviour How has he gone beyond the alities
After Swami Sivananda
Rising above the gunas· 14.19–14.27→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 14.19When the seer beholds no agent other than the Gunas and knows that which is higher than them, he attains to My Being.
14.20The embodied one, having crossed beyond these three Gunas from which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay, and pain, and attains immortality.
- 14.21Arjuna said, "What are the marks of one who has transcended the three qualities, O Lord? What is their conduct, and how do they go beyond these three qualities?"
- 14.22The Blessed Lord said, "When light, activity, and delusion are present, he does not hate them, nor does he long for them when they are absent.
- 14.23He who, seated like one unconcerned, is not moved by the dualities, and who, knowing that the dualities are active, is self-centered and does not move.
- 14.24Who is the same in pleasure and pain, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold are all alike, who is the same to the dear and the unfriendly, who is firm, and to whom censure and praise are one and the same.
- 14.25Who is the same in honor and dishonor, the same to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings, he is said to have transcended the dualities.
- 14.26And he who serves Me with unwavering devotion, he, crossing beyond the dualities, is fit for becoming Brahman.
- 14.27For I am the abode of Brahman, the immortal, immutable, and everlasting Dharma, and absolute bliss.
Word-by-word→
- deha
- body
- dehī
- the embodied
- etān
- these
- janma
- birth
- jarā
- old age
- trīn
- three
- atītya
- transcending
- aśhnute
- attains
- guṇān
- the three modes of material nature
- mṛityu
- death
- amṛitam
- immortality
- vimuktaḥ
- freed from
- duḥkhaiḥ
- misery
- samudbhavān
- produced of
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