BG 14.1 - 27
Now I will reveal to you the wisdom that is beyond knowledge, by which the great sages have achieved the highest perfection. Taking refuge in this wisdom of mine, they are neither born at the time of creation, nor do they suffer at the time of dissolution.
My womb is the great Brahman, in which I plant the seed from which all beings are born. Whatever forms are produced in any womb, this great womb of Brahma is their womb, and I am their father. Purity, passion, and ignorance are all born from the law of nature, and bind the soul to the body.
Of these, purity is luminous and full of well-being. It establishes itself through attachment to happiness and to knowledge. Passion, engendered by thirst for pleasure and attachment, establishes itself with attachment to action. Ignorance, born of false knowledge and delusion, establishes itself with negligence, laziness, and sleep. Purity generates attachment to happiness, passion generates attachment to action, and ignorance generates attachment to negligence. Purity prevails when passion and ignorance are overcome. Passion reigns when purity and ignorance are overwhelmed, and ignorance arises when purity and passion are overpowered.
When knowledge illuminates forth from every gateway of the body, one should know that purity has prevailed. Greed, restlessness, agitation, and craving, are all due to the dominance of passion. Darkness, stagnation, negligence, and delusion, all arise when ignorance prevails.
When purity prevails, the soul may pass from the body to the pure worlds of the enlightened. When passion prevails, the soul is reborn among those attached to work. Similarly, when ignorance prevails, the soul is reborn in the wombs of the foolish.
The fruit of a good deed is born of purity. The fruit of passion is pain, and the fruit of ignorance is delusion. From purity arises wisdom; from passion arises greed; from ignorance comes negligence and delusion. Those established in purity ascend upward, those who abide in passion stay where they are, while those with ignorant nature and bad qualities descend downwards.
When one understands that it is only these three qualities that cause action, and perceives what is beyond them, they attain my divine nature. When the soul transcends these three qualities from which the body is born, they are freed from birth and death, old age and misery, and attain immortality.
Arjuna asked:
How does one recognize a person who has transcended these three modes of nature? What is their behavior, and how do they pass beyond?
[21]
Krishna replied:
Such a person does not hate illumination, activity, or even delusion, nor do they long for them when they are absent.
[22]They sit like an unconcerned person, unmoved by the three qualities of nature.
[23]To such a person, pain and pleasure are the same. The cold, a stone, and a lump of gold are all the same. The pleasant and unpleasant things are equal. They are intelligent, indifferent to both blame and praise.
[24]
One who looks equally upon honor and dishonor, loves friend and foe alike, and abandons all undertakings, has transcended the three qualities of nature. And one who serves me alone, with unwavering devotion, will transcend the three Gunas and become one with Brahman. For I am the abode of the immortal Brahman, the eternal Dharma, and infinite bliss.
Next chapter
15. The Supreme Spirit
Puruṣhottam Yog