20. gunan etan atitya trin
dehi dehasamudbhavdn
janmamrtyujardduhkhair
vimukto 'mrtam agnate
(20) When the embodied soul rises above these three modes that spring from the body, it is freed from birth, death, old age and pain and attains life eternal.
dehasamudbhavan: this implies that the modes are caused by the body. "Which are the seed out of which the body is evolved.'" S[1] Even sattvika goodness is imperfect since this goodness has for its condition the struggle with its opposite. The moment the struggle ceases and the goodness becomes .
absolute, it ceases to be goodness and goes beyond all ethical compulsion. By developing the nature of sattva, we rise beyond it and obtain transcendent wisdom.[2]
The Character of Him Who is Beyond the Three Modes
arjuna uvaca
21. kair lingais trim, gunan
etan atito bhavati prabho
kimacarah katham cai
'tams trin gunan ativartate
Arjuna said
(21) By what marks is he, 0 Lord, who has risen above the three modes characterized? What is his way of life? How does he get beyond the three modes?
What are the marks of the jivanmukta, of him who achieves perfection in the present life? The characteristics are more or less the same as those of the sthitaprajna (II, 55 ff.) of the bhaktiman, devotee (XI I, 13 ff.). From this it is evident that the marks of perfection are the same, however it may be reached.
sribhagavan uvaca
22. prakasath ca pravrttim
ca moham eva ca pandava
na dvesti sarhpracsrttani
na nivrttani kaiiksati
The Blessed Lord said
(22) He, 0 Pandava (Arjuna), who does not abhor illumination, activity and delusion when they arise nor longs for them when they cease.
23. udasinavad asino
gunair yo na vicalyate
guna vartanta ity eva
yo 'vatisthati ne 'agate
(23) He who is seated like one unconcerned, unperturbed by the modes, who stands apart, without wavering, knowing that it is only the modes that act.
He sees the mutations of nature but is not entangled in them. The modes or gunas are lifted up into pure illumination, divine activity and perfect calm.
24. samaduhkhasukhah
svasthah samalostas
makancanah tulyapriyãpriyo dhiras
tulyanindatm asamstuti asamstutih
(24) He who regards pain and pleasure alike, who dwells in his own self, who looks upon a clod, a stone, a piece of gold as of equal worth, who remains the same amidst the pleasant and the unpleasant things, who is firm of mind, who regards both blame and praise as one.
25. manapanzanayos tulyas
tulyo mitraripaksayoh
sarvarambhapaitydgi arityagi
gunatitah sa ucyate
(25) He who is the same in honour and dishonour and the same to friends and foes, and who has given up all initiative of action, he is said to have risen above the modes
26. mam ca yo 'vyabhicarerna
bhaktiyogena sevate sa
gulag samatityai 'tan
brahmabhicyaya karate
(26) He who serves Me with unfailing devotion of love, rises above the three modes, he too is fit for becoming Brahman He is fit for liberation.
27. brahmano hi pratistha 'ham
amrtasya 'vyayasya ca
sasvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyai 'kantikasya ca
(27) For I am the abode of Brahman, the Immortal and the Imperishable, of eternal law and of absolute bliss.
Here the personal Lord is said to be the foundation of the Absolute Brahman. makes out that the Supreme Lord is Brahman in the sense that He is the manifestation of Brahman. Brahman shows His grace to His devotees through Isvarasakti and He is that power in manifestation and therefore Brahman Himself. gives an alternative explanation. Brahman is the personal Lord and the verse means "I, the unconditioned and the unutterable, am the abode of the conditioned Brahman who is immortal and indestructible." Nilakantha takes Brahma to mean Veda. R. interprets it as the emancipated soul and Madhva as maya. Madhusudana takes it for the personal Lord. Krsna identifies Himself with the absolute, unconditioned Brahman.
itt ... gunatrayavibhagayogo nama caturdaso dhyayah
This is the fourteenth chapter entitled The Yoga of the Differentiation of the Three Modes.
