Verse 14.20
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान् | जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते ||२०||
Transliteration (IAST)
guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān | janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute ||20||
Word-by-Word Meanings
guṇān-the gunas
etān-these
atītya-having transcended
trīn-three
dehī-the embodied one
deha-samudbhavān-which give rise to the body
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhaiḥ-from birth, death, old age, and sorrow
vimukataḥ-freed
amṛtam-immortality/nectar
Translation
When the embodied one transcends these three gunas which give rise to the body, he is freed from birth, death, old age, and sorrow, and attains immortality.
Commentary
Shankaracharya explains that the three gunas are the cause of embodiment itself. By transcending them through knowledge, the soul is freed from the entire cycle of samsara - not just from one birth but from the very mechanism of rebirth. Ramanuja notes that 'amṛtam' here means the eternal bliss of communion with the Lord, not mere absence of death.
Themes
mokshaatmanjnana