गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान्
जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते
guṇānetānatītya trīndehī dehasamudbhavān
janmamṛtyujarāduḥkhairvimukto'mṛtamaśnute
TRANSLATION
The embodied self, crossing beyond these three Gunas which arise in the body, and freed from birth, death, age and pain, attains immortality.
PURPORT
The embodied self—’crossing beyond these three Gunas,’ the Sattva and the rest, which ‘arise in the body,’ i.e., spring from Prakrti transformed into the form of the body—perceives the self as different from the Gunas and as of the form of knowledge only. Released thus from birth, death, old age and sorrow, It experiences the immortal self. This is what is meant by My likeness.
Arjuna now wants to know about the characteristics of one who has transcended the Gunas and the means of such transcendence:
