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Chapter 14 · The Three Modes of Material Nature · 27 verses

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
  2. 2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
  3. 3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
  4. 4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
  5. 5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
  6. 6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.
Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›
Nature & guṇasChapter 14 · The Three Modes of Material Nature
14.2014.22

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 14.21

Seeing and transcending the guṇas

Jīva · The soul

अर्जुन उवाच

कैर्लिङ्गैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो ।

किमाचार: कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते ॥ २१ ॥

arjuna uvāca

kair liṅgais trīn guṇān etān

atīto bhavati prabho

kim-ācāraḥ kathaṁ caitāṁs

trīn guṇān ativartate

Translation

Arjuna inquired: O my dear Lord, by which symptoms is one known who is transcendental to these three modes? What is his behavior? And how does he transcend the modes of nature?

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Questions About Transcending the Modes

  1. 1

    Arjuna asks how to recognize someone beyond the three modes, how that person behaves, and how to transcend the modes.

  2. 2

    Prabhupāda explains that knowing the direct means to remain beyond the modes is essential; without this, one cannot show the symptoms.

  3. 3

    Seek to understand the means of rising beyond the modes, not just the outward signs.

Key points from the purport

Three questions asked by Arjuna

What are the symptoms of one who has transcended the modes?

What is his behavior?

How does he transcend the modes?

Further reading

Transcending The Modes

One transcends all the modes by knowing the following two points:

All within this world takes place under the modes

Krishna’s activities are transcendental to the modes

Krishna explains that one can transcend the modes by engaging unfailingly in full devotional service

One will then come to Brahman platform of which Krishna is the source

Chapter 14, section V: Transcending The Modes
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. arjunaḥ uvācaArjuna said
  2. kaiḥby which
  3. liṅgaiḥsymptoms
  4. trīnthree
  5. guṇānqualities
  6. etānall these
  7. atītaḥhaving transcended
  8. bhavatiis
3

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: prakṛti, guṇa.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 14.21 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to nature & guṇas?

Practice

Observe which mode shaped your last decision.

5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 14.19Seeing and transcending the guṇasBG 14.20Seeing and transcending the guṇasBG 7.14Crossing beyond māyā
Live this todaySpiritual Happiness Even NowA practice from BG 14.20, close to this verse

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

  1. Learn
  2. Live
  3. Lead
Next in Learn · 4 of 9 · 10 minChapters & storiesGo chapter by chapter, with the Mahābhārata stories that explain what is happening.Back · LearnPrabhupāda's Introduction