Bhagavatgita a detailed study chapter14 The three gunas

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19. Naanyam guNebhyaH karthaaram yadhaa

 

dharshtaanupaSyathi

 

guNebhyaScha param vetthi madhbhaavam saH

aDhigacChathi

 

When

one sees that there is no agent of action apart from the gunas, he knows that,

which is beyond gunas and attains my being.

 

The

wise dissociate themselves from the gunas and understand that all actions are

due to gunas only. That is, he as the individual soul is not the one who acts

but it is the gunas inside his body, which includes mind and intellect , are reacting

with the gunas in the outside world. guNaa

guNeshu varthantha ithi mathvaa na sajjathe ( chapter3. sloka 28)

 

For

example when something triggers anger or sorrow we feel "I am angry or I am sad

etc." But it is only the rajas or thamas in us which creates the respective

emotions and it comes from desire and attachment, the products of ego ,

ahankara, which is of three kinds according to the gunas as explained in an

early chapter. So one who is wise to this

thinks that it is the reaction of the gunas in him with the gunas

outside and is not affected by it. Hence he does not feel that he is the agent

of action.

 

20.guNaan ethaan atheethya threen

dhehee

Dhehasamudhbhavaan

 

janmamrthyujaraadhuhkhaiH vimuktho amrtham aSnuthe

 

The

embodied being transcending the gunas which arise from the embodiment becomes

free from birth, death old age and other griefs and becomes immortal

 

When

one is able to transcend the gunas by identifying himself with the self, he is

no more affected by the gunas and no more karma adheres to him as he does not

consider himself as an agent of action. He reaches a stage just one step below

that described by the upanishad ,

 

ksheeyanthe asya karmaaNi thasmin

dhrshte paraavare (Mund.2.2.8)

 

When

one attains self realization, that is Brahma sakshaathkaara, all karma cease

for him and released from bondage due to karma he attains immortality.

 

 

Here

Arjuna comes out with a question. He wants to know the signs by which a man who

has transcended the gunas can be known

and also the way to do it.

 

kairlingairsthreen

guNaan eThaan atheetho bhavathi prabho

kimaachraH

kaThaam cha ethaan threen guNaan athivarthathE

 

What

are the signs of one who has transcended the three gunas, oh Lord , how does he

behave and how does he transcend the three gunas?

 

This

is similar to the question in the second chapter where Arjubna enquired about the man of perfection. The transcendence of three gunas

being the prerequisite of the state of perfection this is also the sign of a

man of perfection.

 

 

Krishna starts giving the description of a guNAtheetha in the slokas that follow.