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.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 177

Verse 9

Sattwam sukhe sanjayati

rajah karmani bhaarata;

Jnaanamaavritya tu tamah

pramaade sanjayatyuta.

Sattwa attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Arjuna, while Tamas, shrouding knowledge, attaches to heedlessness only!

The predominating effect of sattwa guna or mode of goodness is that it instills in the jiva or embodied being the attraction for happiness even though the seeds of misery and sorrow are also inherent. 

So sattwa guna by such natural but strong attraction for happiness binds the jiva to material existence and raja guna the mode of passion binds one by the work and effort constantly undertaken to achieve such happiness and tama guna or mode of ignorance binds one to material existence by distorted delusions and perverted perceptions of knowledge even if heard from liberated beings. 

Tamas also manifests as neglecting the teachings of great liberated beings or by acting contrary to these teachings because such teachings differ from one’s personal understanding. 

The word uta means and so forth and indicates that tamas binds one as well to lethargy, listlessness and laziness.

When sattwa has the upper hand in us, we feel satisfied, contented, relieved, and happy. 

Rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata:

When rajas is preponderating, we feel like getting up and doing this work and that work, and never want to sit quiet. This is what rajas does. 

Jjñānam āvṛtya tu tamaḥ pramāde saṁjayatyuta:

When tamas is predominating, we have no idea as to what to do and what not to do. 

There is confusion about the pros and cons of things. There is no proper judgment as to the way any step has to be taken in a given direction; and even if some step is taken, it will be a wrong step and it will end in some fumbling and catastrophic conclusion. This is what tamas does. 

Sattwa leads to happiness and satisfaction, rajas to intense activity, and tamas to ignorance and inability to decide what is proper and what is improper.

Verse 10

Rajastamashchaabhibhooya

Sattwam bhavati bhaarata;

Rajah Sattwam tamashchaiva

tamah Sattwam rajastathaa.

Now Sattwa prevails, O Arjuna, having overpowered Rajas and Tamas; now Rajas, having overpowered Sattwa and Tamas; and now Tamas, having overpowered Sattwa and Rajas!

Now Lord Krishna explains the relationship and interaction between the three gunas which are sattwa guna or the mode of goodness, raja guna or the mode of passion and tama guna or the mode of ignorance. All three gunas inexplicably locked to all jivas or embodied beings throughout material existence.

No particular guna can be operating always in any person. They have a cyclic movement, as it were. Partly due to their fickleness and partly due to some karmas that a person has done in a previous birth, certain gunas operate for a shorter period or a longer period; but no guna can operate continuously throughout the life of a person. There is a coming and going of the gunas. 

When sattwa rises up into action, it suppresses rajas and tamas for the time being.

When rajas rises into action, it suppresses sattwa and tamas.

When tamas is predominant, it suppresses rajas and sattwa.

It does not mean that the suppressed qualities are destroyed. They are only made inoperative for the time being on account of the vehemence of the activity of a particular guna. 

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 176

Verse 5

Sattwam rajastama iti

gunaah prakriti sambhavaah;

Nibadhnanti mahaabaaho

dehe dehinam avyayam.

Purity, passion and inertia—these qualities, O mighty-armed Arjuna, born of Nature, bind fast in the body, the embodied, the indestructible!

Sattvaṁ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛti sambhavāḥ 

These properties are the very constituent elements of Prakriti. They are not qualities like the whiteness of a cloth, which is different from the cloth, and the blueness of a flower, which is different from the flower. That is not the way in which we have to understand the qualities of Prakriti. 

The Gunas are qualities of Prakriti in the same way as the three strands of a rope are qualities of the rope. We cannot say that the strands are qualities; they are the very substance of the rope. 

Bhagawan says that there are three Gunas born from Prakriti. These Gunas themselves are Prakriti. There is no difference in Prakriti and the Gunas. Guna is a technical term. It cannot be translated as qualities of some object. Gunas themselves are Prakriti.

For example, Camphor has three qualities. It is white, soft and fragrant. If you place it out in open, it will give fragrance and then it evaporates. What does it mean? The fragrance which is now all over the room was once white, soft and fragrant. The fragrance condensed together was camphor.

White color, softness and fragrance put together is camphor. These three qualities together are called camphor. In the same way, the three Gunas themselves are called Prakriti. Prakriti expresses through these three Gunas.

When the three Gunas are in perfect equilibrium, then Prakriti is not expressing. In laya, Bhagawan is as though just sitting quietly. These three Gunas are balanced and Prakriti is not expressing through them. There is no world. But when the sankalpa comes in Ishwara as though imbalance is created in Prakriti and the world comes into manifestation.

The three Gunas put together is Prakriti. Prakriti is nothing but the three Gunas. In the balance state of the Gunas there is no expression as anything.

It is like the waves in the water body. When the water body is still, there are no waves and you can even see the bottom of the water body. Then the waves arise due to wind etc. The waves are also water but the waves create as though division in the water. It appears as though there is water and something else. A pebble thrown in the still water creates ripples. Before the ripples it was simply water. The ripples are water too but once there are ripples it appears as though there is something more to the water.

These qualities, these properties, are the very substance, the very stuff, of Prakriti; and they cause bondage to the individual — nibadhnanti. Dehe dehinam avyayam: They bind us.

It is easy to understand this way. When we are in our morning nidhidhyasana or when we are seated in Sai Kulwant Hall or when we are in an environment where there is absolute peace and tranquility, then there is no dominance of any of the three Gunas and it seems we are totally free.

Once, one of the 3 Gunas take a higher hand, the equilibrium is disturbed and then, we are pushed into the world and we get bound by the world and its objects.

Love.