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Adhyāyas / Guṇatraya-Vibhāga Yogaḥ / verse 21

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
अर्जुन उवाच कैर्लिंगैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो। किमाचारः कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते
arjuna uvācha kair liṅgais trīn guṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho kim āchāraḥ kathaṁ chaitāns trīn guṇān ativartate
Anuṣṭubh

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

Arjuna said, "O Lord, by what signs is one known who has gone beyond these three qualities? What is their behavior, and how do they transcend these three qualities?"

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

अर्जुन ने कहा -- हे प्रभो ! इन तीनो गुणों से अतीत हुआ पुरुष किन लक्षणों से युक्त होता है ? वह किस प्रकार के आचरण वाला होता है ? और, वह किस उपाय से इन तीनों गुणों से अतीत होता है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
अ उ
कैर् लिङ्गैस् त्रीन् गुणा नेतान्
अतीतो भवतिप् रभो
किमा चार% कथञ् चैतान्
त्रीन् गुणा नति वर्त ते
॥ २१ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
arjunaḥ uvāchaArjun inquired
kaiḥby what
liṅgaiḥsymptoms
trīnthree
guṇānmodes of material nature
etānthese
atītaḥhaving transcended
bhavatiis
prabhoLord
kimwhat
āchāraḥconduct
kathamhow
chaand
etānthese
trīnthree
guṇānmodes of material nature
ativartatetranscend

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
14.21Can I overcome these aspects?

Arjuna asks the operative question directly: “By what marks (kair liṅgaiḥ) is one known who has crossed these three guṇas? What is his conduct? And how does he cross beyond the three guṇas (kathaṃ… ativartate)?” Two questions in one — how to recognise the liberated, and how to become him. It is the same practical instinct that made him ask after the sthitaprajña at 2.54. The Gītā consistently refuses to leave the ideal abstract: Arjuna always demands the marks and the method, and K always supplies both.