Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 21
अर्जुन उवाचकैर्लिंगैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो।किमाचारः कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते।।
arjuna uvāca
kair liṅgais trīn guṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho
kim ācāraḥ kathaṁ caitāns trīn guṇān ativartate
also searched as "kair lingais trin gunan etan atito bhavati prabho"
Translation
Arjuna said, "What are the marks of a person who has transcended the three Gunas? What is their behavior? And how do they transcend the three Gunas?"
Vāṇi's rendering
By what signs do I know one who has crossed the three strands? How do they live? How is the crossing done?
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अर्जुनarjuna | Arjuna |
| उवाचuvāca | said |
| कैःkaiḥ | by what (sandhi: kair before liṅgais) |
| लिङ्गैःliṅgaiḥ | marks, visible signs |
| त्रीन्trīn | three |
| गुणान्guṇān | the strands, the qualities |
| एतान्etān | these |
| अतीतःatītaḥ | one who has gone past, crossed over |
| भवतिbhavati | becomes, is |
| प्रभोprabho | O Lord |
| किम्kim | what |
| आचारःācāraḥ | conduct, way of living |
| कथम्kathaṁ | how, by what means |
| चca | and (sandhi: ca + etān = caitān) |
| एतान्etān | these |
| त्रीन्trīn | three |
| गुणान्guṇān | the strands, the qualities |
| अतिवर्ततेativartate | passes beyond, gets across |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 21 mean?
Arjuna asks three things at once: how one who has crossed the three guṇas can be recognized, how such a person lives day to day, and how the crossing itself happens. It is the question of a man who has heard a description of freedom and now wants its address.
What does 'kair lingais trin gunan etan atito bhavati prabho' mean?
By what signs, O Lord, does one become known as having gone past these three strands? Arjuna is not asking for theory. He wants marks — something he could see in a face, a gait, a way of answering — because he suspects freedom must leave a trace.
Why does Arjuna ask about outward signs instead of the method?
Because that is how longing actually moves. You see steadiness in someone and want the look of it before you want the labour of it. Krishna does not correct the sequence; he simply answers all three, knowing the last question is the one that will cost Arjuna something.
Can a person who has gone beyond the three gunas really be identified?
Krishna answers in the verses that follow, and the marks he gives are quiet ones — no hatred when heaviness comes, no craving when light departs. Not a glow. Not a manner. Only a certain evenness that outlasts what the strands are doing at the time.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Three questions, and the third is the only one that asks for a method. Arjuna wants the marks first — how would I recognize such a person walking past me on a road? Then the conduct: what does that life look like from outside? Only last does he ask how the crossing is done. This is the honest order of wanting. We ask what freedom looks like long before we ask what it costs. Krishna answers all three without scolding the order. Notice, next time you admire someone's steadiness, whether you are asking for the map or only the scenery.