Bhagavad Gita · 14.25 · Yoga through Understanding the Three Modes of Material Nature·25 of 27
मानापमानयोस्तुल्यस्तुल्यो मित्रारिपक्षयोः।सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी गुणातीतः स उच्यते ॥
mānāpamānayos tulyas tulyo
mitrāri-pakṣhayoḥ sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātītaḥ sa uchyate
Sanskrit recitation
Rising above the gunas · 14.19–14.27 · Teaching
Translation
Who is the same in honor and dishonor, the same to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings, he is said to have transcended the dualities.
Meaning
He keeps a balanced mind in honour and dishonour. He is the same to friend and foe. He is not affected by the dual throng. He has risen above the Gunas. He rests in his own essential nature as ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute. He abids in his own Self. He is a Gunatita (one who has transcended the alities of Nature) who is not affected by the play of the alities. He keeps an even outlook amidst changes. He maintains a clam eilibrium.He abandons all actions that can bring visible or invisible fruits or results but he does actions that are necessary for the bare maintenance of his body. The alities described in verses 23, 24 and 25, such as indifference, etc., are the means for attaining liberation. They represent the ideal that you should have before you. The aspirant should cultivate them. But one attains knowledge of the Self when he abides in his own true nature. These attributes form part and parcel of his nature and serve as marks to indicate that he has crossed beyond the three alities.The Lord gives in the following verse the answer to the third question of Arjuna How does one go beyond the three 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→
- ari
- foe
- mitra
- friend
- māna
- honor
- sarva
- all
- saḥ
- they
- uchyate
- are said to have
- tulyaḥ
- equal
- ārambha
- enterprises
- parityāgī
- renouncer
- apamānayoḥ
- dishonor
- pakṣhayoḥ
- to the parties
- guṇa-atītaḥ
- risen above the three modes of material nature
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