Krishna names the three strands that twist out of nature and bind every living being into a body: sattva, rajas, and tamas — clarity, restlessness, and darkness. Each one binds, but each binds differently. Clarity gives light and health, yet ties you with the sweetness of joy and knowing. Restlessness is craving itself, born of thirst, binding through attachment to doing. Darkness is born of not-knowing and ties you with heaviness, sleep, and neglect. The three take turns ruling. When clarity rises, light pours through every gate of the body and knowing comes easily. When restlessness dominates, greed and busyness and endless scheming sprout. When darkness thickens, dullness, inertia, and confusion take hold. The strand that rules at the hour of death determines what comes next: die in clarity and rise to stainless worlds; die in restlessness and be born among the driven; die in darkness and be born among the deluded. Arjuna asks the practical question: how do I recognize someone who has crossed all three? Krishna's answer is a portrait of deep equanimity. Such a person neither resents clarity, activity, or dullness when they come, nor misses them when they go. Seated as one apart, unshaken, knowing it is only the strands turning, this person stays still. Earth, stone, and gold look the same. Blame and praise land the same way. Honour and disgrace pass through without sticking. The crossing is not accomplished by force. It is accomplished by love that does not waver. Serve me with undivided love, Krishna says, and you cross beyond all three strands. The qualities that seem to run your life are not you. Noticing that, even once, is the beginning of standing free.