Transcendence

Buddhi-yukto jahatiha ubhe sukrita-dushkrite, tasmad yogaya yujyasva yogah karmasu kaushalam

One who practices yoga of the intellect abandons both good and bad deeds in this life. Therefore, strive for yoga. Yoga is skill in action.

Vishaya vinivartante niraharasya dehinah, rasa-varjam raso 'py asya param drishtva nivartate

The objects of the senses turn away from those who abstain from them, but the taste remains. However, even this taste ceases for those who have seen the Supreme.

Yas tv atma-ratir eva syad atma-triptas ca manavah, atmany eva ca santushtas tasya karyam na vidyate

But those who rejoice in the self, who are illumined and fully satisfied in the self, for them there is no duty.

Karmany akarma yah pashyed akarmani ca karma yah, sa buddhiman manushyeshu sa yuktah krtsna-karma-krt

One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is intelligent among people. They are in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.

Suhrn-mitraryudasina-madhyastha-dveshya-bandhuসhu, sadhushv api cha papeshu sama-buddhir vishishyate

Those who are of equal vision to friends, companions, enemies, strangers, mediators, the hateful, relatives, saints, and sinners, are considered to be most elevated.

Daivi hy esha guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya, mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te

This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who surrender unto Me can easily cross beyond it.

Avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayah, param bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttamam

The unintelligent, not knowing My supreme, imperishable, and unsurpassed nature, think of Me as having assumed a form from the unmanifest. The ignorant mistake the human form of God for the totality of the Divine, not recognizing that the manifest form is just one expression of the infinite, unmanifest Supreme.

Paras tasmat tu bhavo 'nyo 'vyakto 'vyaktat sanatanah, yah sa sarveshu bhutesu nashyatsu na vinashyati

Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and transcendent, beyond the unmanifest state that exists at the time of cosmic dissolution. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in the universe is annihilated, that realm is not destroyed. Beyond even the cosmic unmanifest that exists between creation cycles, there is a higher eternal realm that is never destroyed — the transcendental abode of God.

Purushah sa parah partha bhaktya labhyas tv ananyaya, yasyantah-sthani bhutani yena sarvam idam tatam

The Supreme Person, O Partha, is attainable only through exclusive devotion. Within that Supreme Person all beings dwell, and by Him all this world is pervaded. The Supreme is attainable not by intellectual effort alone but through single-pointed, exclusive devotion (ananya bhakti). The entire universe exists within and is pervaded by this Supreme.

Vedeshu yajneshu tapahsu chaiva daneshu yat punya-phalam pradishtam, atyeti tat sarvam idam viditva yogi param sthanam upaiti chadyam

The yogi who knows this truth surpasses all rewards from studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, austerities, and giving charity, and attains the supreme primordial abode.

Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina, mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na chaham teshv avasthitah

I pervade this entire universe in My unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me, but I am not limited to them.

Na ca mat-sthani bhutani pashya me yogam aishvaram, bhuta-bhrn na ca bhuta-stho mamatma bhuta-bhavanah

And yet beings do not rest in Me — behold My divine mystery! My Self, which sustains all beings and brings them into existence, does not actually dwell in them. Just as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, always rests in space, so do all beings rest in Me.

Avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum ashritam, param bhavam ajananto mama bhuta-maheshvaram

Fools disregard Me when I descend in human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all beings. Those who see only the external human appearance of the Lord miss His divine majesty hidden within the mortal form.

Atha va bahunaitena kim jnatena tavarjuna, vishtabhyaham idam kritsnam ekamsena sthito jagat

But what is the use of all these details, O Arjuna? Know that with a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe. This powerful closing verse summarises the entire teaching: the infinite divine is present in the whole cosmos, yet the Lord surpasses it all — the universe is contained within just one spark of His infinite being.

Jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatvamrtam ashnute, anadimat param brahma na sat tan nasad ucyate

I shall now describe that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality. It is beginningless supreme Brahman, which is said to be neither being nor non-being.

Jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatva 'mritam ashnute, anadir mat-param brahma na sat tan nasad ucyate

I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you shall taste the eternal. Brahman, the supreme, is beginningless and subordinate to Me; it is said to be neither being nor non-being. The ultimate object of knowledge is the transcendent Brahman.

Sarvendriya-gunabhasam sarvendriya-vivarjitam, asaktam sarva-bhric caiva nirgunam guna-bhoktri cha

The knowable is the source of all sense functions yet is itself without any senses. It is unattached yet sustains all; it is without qualities yet experiences all qualities. This apparent paradox reveals the transcendent nature of the Absolute.

Anadi-tvat nirgunatvat paramatmayam avyayah, sharira-stho 'pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate

O son of Kunti, because the imperishable Supersoul is without beginning and beyond the qualities of material nature, even though situated within the body, it neither acts nor is entangled. The soul's transcendence keeps it untouched by the activities of the body.

Idam jnanam upashritya mama sadharmyam agatah, sarge 'pi nopajayante pralaye na vyathanti cha

By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one attains to My own nature. Such persons are not born at the time of creation, nor disturbed at the time of dissolution. Merger with the divine nature is the ultimate fruit — transcending even the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction.

Nanyam gunebhyah kartaram yada drasthanupashyati, gunebhyas cha param vetti mad-bhavam so 'dhigacchati

When one sees that there is no agent of action other than the three gunas, and knows that which is transcendental to all these gunas, one attains My divine nature. The final insight is that all action is driven by gunas; the one who sees this transcends them.

Gunan etan atitya trin dehi deha-samudbhavan, janma-mrityu-jara-duhkhair vimukto 'mritam ashnute

When the embodied being transcends these three gunas associated with the body, they are freed from birth, death, old age, and suffering, and attains immortality.

Arjuna uvaca: Kair lingais trin gunan etan atito bhavati prabho, kim acharah katham chaitams trin gunan ativartate

Arjuna asks: What are the signs of one who has transcended the three gunas? What is their conduct, and how does one go beyond these gunas? Arjuna's question invites a practical description of the liberated person's characteristics and the method of transcendence.

Shri bhagavan uvaca: Prakasham cha pravrittim cha moham eva cha pandava, na dveshti sampravrittani na nivrittani kankhati

The Supreme Lord says: O Arjuna, one who does not hate illumination, attachment, and delusion when present, nor longs for them when absent — such a person has transcended the gunas. The transcended soul is neither attracted nor repelled by the manifestations of any guna.

Sama-duhkha-sukhah sva-sthah sama-lostashma-kanchanah, tulya-priyapriyo dhiras tulya-nindatma-samstutih

One who is equal in happiness and distress, who is steady, to whom a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are equal, to whom the pleasant and unpleasant are the same, who is steady, who regards both blame and praise equally — such a person has transcended the gunas.

Manapamanayos tulyas tulyo mitrari-pakshayoh, sarvarambha-parityagi gunatatita uchyate

One who treats honor and dishonor equally, who is equal toward friend and enemy, and who has renounced all material activities — such a person is said to have transcended the three gunas. Complete equanimity across all social and material distinctions defines the guna-transcendent state.

Mam cha yo 'vyabhicharena bhakti-yogena sevate, sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhuyaya kalpate

Those who serve Me with unwavering devotional yoga transcend the three gunas and become fit for union with Brahman.

Uttamah purushas tv anyah paramatmety udahrtah, yo loka-trayam avishya bibharty avyaya ishvarah

Yet there is another, the Supreme Person — the Paramatma — who is called the indestructible Lord and who pervades the three worlds and maintains them. Beyond both the perishable and the imperishable stands the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who sustains all three worlds as the transcendent source of all existence.

Yasmat ksaram atito 'ham aksharad api cottamah, ato 'smi loke vede ca prathitah purushottamah

Because I transcend the perishable realm and am even above the imperishable, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person — Purushottama. This verse explains the very name Purushottama: Krishna stands above both categories of existence and is therefore the utterly highest person, celebrated in scripture and in the hearts of devotees.

Na tad asti pṛithivyāṁ vā divi deveṣhu vā punaḥ, sattvaṁ prakṛiti-jair muktaṁ yad ebhiḥ syāt tribhir guṇaiḥ

There is no being on earth, or in heaven among the celestial gods, that is free from the three gunas born of material nature.

Brahma-bhutah prasannatma na shochati na kankshati, samah sarveshu bhuteshu mad-bhaktim labhate param

One who is thus transcendentally situated realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. Such a person never laments nor desires anything, is equal to all beings, and attains supreme devotion to Me.