Bhagwad Gita - Post 180

Verse 24

Alike in pleasure and pain, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth, stone and gold are alike, to whom the dear and the unfriendly are alike, firm, the same in censure and praise.

Loshta-Ashma-Kaanchana: Whether he sees a nugget of gold or a big boulder of granite, it makes no difference to him. A clod of earth and a ball of gold have the same value to the eye of this great soul who has transcended the operation of the three gunas.

“clod, stone or gold”. The three items are carefully chosen – there is one from each Guna, representing Tamas, Rajas and Sattwa respectively. 

Whether a person considers the Jnani to be dear to him or not; whether he censures or praises the Jnani; in both cases the Jnani always considers that person as being a human being to be unconditionally loved and praised. 

This is not to say that the Jnani is unmindful of the value of gold, or a dear friend, or an insult, etc. It is just that his response to them is not determined by his ego. He responds, but from a selfless standpoint. 

Verse 25

The same in honour and dishonour, the same to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings—he is said to have crossed the qualities.

The same remarks apply when the person shows honour or dishonour to the sage; or whether he considers the sage as a friend or a foe. To the Jnani he is worthy of honour and always a friend unconditionally. 

Praise and censure mean the same thing. It makes no difference to such a person whether he is glorified or condemned. 

Tulyo mitrāripakṣayoḥ: Let a friend come or let an enemy come; there is no difference. 

Sarvārambhaparityāgī: He will still do nothing. He will be like a kutastha. He will be seated calm and quiet in himself, as if the world does not exist at all for him. Such a person is a gunatita, one who has transcended the operation of the three gunas.

Combining the essence of both the above verses, it is worthwhile to go through the description of a Jivanmukhta in Jivanmukti Viveka, written by Sage Vidyaranya.

The Jivanmukta is one for whom this phenomenal world, in which he moves and acts, has ceased to exist. In the case of an ordinary person, his mind reacts to the various forms in the world and gives him knowledge of their variety and their differences from one another. 

But the mind of the Jivanmukta does not get so transformed and so he does not see differences, but sees all forms only as Brahman. In deep sleep the mind does not undergo any transformation, but the seed for transformation remains. So sleep cannot be equated with the state of Jivanmukti. 

The Jivanmukta remains unaffected by both pleasure and pain. He is not elated by something good happening, nor is he depressed when a calamity occurs. 

He does not crave for anything, but subsists on whatever comes of its own accord. Though his senses function and can experience everything, his mind is absolutely calm and does not react to anything. 

Though his eyes see everything before him, his mind does not judge them as good or bad, favorable or unfavorable and so he is free from agitation and attachment or aversion. The senses themselves do not cause any harm. It is the mind which judges what is experienced by the senses and develops likes and dislikes in the case of an ordinary person. Since the mind of the Jivanmukta does not make any such judgment, he is free from all attachment and aversion. 

Because of the absence of transformation of the mind, the Jivanmukta is free from Vasanas. His mind always remains pure. He never looks upon himself as a doer of actions since he does not identify himself with the body-mind complex which alone performs all actions.

Consequently he is neither elated nor depressed by the good or bad results of the actions. Others do not have any reason to fear him, because he never insults or harms others in any way. He is also not afraid of any one. He remains unaffected even if some wicked man insults or harasses him. He does not distinguish people as friend or foe. Though full of learning, he never exhibits it. 

His mind is absolutely free from worldly thoughts and is always fixed on contemplation of the Self. He remains cool even in matters concerning himself, just as a man attending a marriage or other ceremony in another's house remains unaffected by the gain or loss of that other person. 

This coolness is due not only to his freedom from worry, but also to his awareness of the fullness of his own Self. These are the characteristics of the Jivanmukta.

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 179

Verse 22

The Blessed Lord said:

Light, activity and delusion,—when they are present, O Arjuna, he hates not, nor does he long for them when they are absent!

Sri Krishna uses the primary characteristics of the Gunas instead of the names of the Gunas themselves, thereby giving more importance to the qualities they represent than to their mere names.

All three of them have the effect of binding the soul. Knowing that, one would expect the TriGunateeta to flee from all of them. But he does nothing of the kind. He in fact remains as a neutral observer of all them, facing them and not escaping from them. The Lord brings out this attitude in all the verses of His reply.

The lesson to learn is that transcending the Gunas does not mean escaping from life. That would teach us nothing. The true saint faces all that life throws at him with equanimity. Therein lies his greatness.

It is the same when there is the absence of any Guna; he does not miss them by longing for them to return to him. This attitude also requires equanimity and characterizes the relationship that he has developed with the Gunas.

THE GUNATEETAH

The Gunas are seen as simply passing through his Upadhis (limiting factors in a human being, the BMI), but not through ‘him’. This is a key point to grasp. 

There is a detachment in the Siddha, the perfected sage, by which he remains aloof from all that goes on through his Upadhis. The real Self is his new identity. He no longer sees himself as the ego-driven “I”, but has gone beyond that narrow identity to a more universal identity called the ‘Self’. This is the implication of transcending the Gunas.

The TriGunateeta does not waste his time trying to avoid Tamas and build up Sattva, however much may have been written about their undesirability or desirability respectively. 

He simply ignores the mind itself as a play of the Gunas. Thought itself is a creation of the Gunas. Taking his mind completely beyond the reach of the Gunas, he discovers there his ‘place of safety’ from their onslaughts.

Verse 23

He who, seated like one unconcerned, is not moved by the qualities, and who, knowing that the qualities are active, is self-centered and moves not.

Udaaseenavat: “like one who is indifferent”. Being indifferent means remaining as a witness only. One cannot take sides when one is a witness. He neither sides with Sattwa, nor hates Tamas. He just takes in the scene without passing any judgement on anyone. 

While the Gunas act as they are programmed to act according to their nature, the aspirant allows them to pass by without being distracted by them. Suppose the active Guna prompts him to act against Dharma; he does not co-operate with it, but just watches it go by. If it prompts him to do something beneficial, he will co-operate with it yet still remain as an observer of what is being done. 

Why does he behave this way? 

It is because he understands that everything is being done by the Gunas, not by him. He does not carry the ego of “doer-ship” for the act being done. 

In order to watch the play of the three Gunas in himself, he should be an observer from beyond the Gunas. Thus, established in his Pure Spiritual Nature, he is able to observe detachedly and enjoy the play of the Gunas in himself and in the world around him. 

An observer of a street fight, looking down from his balcony, is not affected by what he observes; so too, the Man-of-Wisdom, awakened to the Spiritual Consciousness, swerves not from his consummate equilibrium, when he witnesses the play of the Gunas in himself and ever remains established in his own Divine Nature (ava-tishthati).

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 178

Verse 19

When the seer beholds no agent other than the Gunas, knowing that which is higher than them, he attains to My Being.

Verse 20

The embodied one, having crossed beyond these three Gunas out of which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay and pain, and attains to immortality.

Swami prescribes step by step process to transcend the three gunas.

Swami says, 

“Man must use first his Rajo Guna to overwhelm his tamasic tendencies. In this way, dull and negative tendencies are first flushed out and replaced with dynamism.  However, Dynamism too could be dangerous, as it promotes aggressiveness. Hence the next stage is to use the Sattva Guna to ease out the Rajasic tendencies.”

For actual liberation, one must go even beyond the Sattva Guna. 

Swami explains beautifully,

“The three Gunas are bonds, man is bound by them, like a cow whose forelegs are tied together, whose hind legs are bound and whose neck and horns are bound by a third bond. How can the poor Cow move freely when it is bound so?

The Sattva Guna is a golden rope, Rajo Guna is a copper rope and the Tamo Guna an iron rope. All the three bind, in spite of the difference in the cost/ quality of the material with which they bind.  All Bonds are obstacle to freedom”

(From the book- Message of the Lord)

To conclude, Gunas originate from Prakriti and are therefore confined exclusively to the body, mind and intellect. 

Even a most Sattvic person is still bound to this world because, that Sattvic nature is also a Guna, associated with Body, Mind and Intellect which makes him feel, "I am noble, I am Sattvic, I do not hurt others, I do good, see good, I am spiritually advanced, I have known Brahman" etc. 

Whereas, for one to attain realization, one has to transcend all the above which has trace of Avidya or ignorance.

From all the above assertions, all that follow the assertion "I am" must leave (I am happy, I am sad, etc), so that one is left with the inward realization that "I AM" or "SOHAM".

Hence, man should transcend the Gunas and transform himself into a divine being. He should undergo a spiritual metamorphosis, as it were. The Spiritualization and divinisation of man is the ultimate goal of this sacred Bhagwad Gita.

What are the insignia of a person who has transcended the three gunas? Arjuna puts a question: “How can we recognize a person who has transcended the three gunas? What are his qualities? How does he behave?” 

Here, in the next verses is found the gunatita lakshana, which is almost similar to the qualities described as sthitaprajna lakshana in the Second Chapter.

Love.