| O Arjuna, The material nature is the
womb wherein I place the seed of spirit from which all living beings
are born. (Living beings are products of a combination of matter and spirit,
or material and spiritual energies of the Lord) (14.03)
Sattva or calmness and goodness, Rajas or activity and passion, and
Tamas or inertia and laziness-- these three Gunas (or states) of mind bind the imperishable Atma to
the body. (14.05)
When one rises above the three
Gunas (the laziness, activity, and calmness) that originate in the body; one
is freed from birth, old age, disease, and death; and attains nirvana. (14.20)
The one who is indifferent to honor and disgrace; who is the same to
friend and foe; who has renounced the sense of ownership and
doership; they are said to have risen above the Gunas and attain
nirvana. (14.25)
(Sattva, the goodness, is the topmost rung of the ladder leading
to the roof of the Truth, it is not the Truth as such. One can rise above
the Gunas and reach the top of the roof with the two wings of faith and
devotion.)
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