Shloka 20
भीमसेननादः तथा प्रथमसंमर्दः
Bhīmasena’s Roar and the First Clash
गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन् देही देहसमुद्धवान् । जन्ममृत्युजरादु:खैरविंमुक्तो5मृतम श्ुते,यह पुरुष शरीरकी उत्पत्तिके कारणरूप इन तीनों गुणोंको उल्लंघन करकेः जन्म, मृत्यु, वृद्धावस्था और सब प्रकारके दु:खोंसे मुक्त हुआ परमानन्दको प्राप्त होता हैः
arjuna uvāca | guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān | janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute ||
Arjuna said: When the embodied self rises beyond these three qualities—born of the body’s nature—it becomes free from birth, death, old age, and the whole burden of suffering, and attains the deathless state. In the ethical frame of the Gītā, this points to inner liberation: one acts without being ruled by the shifting forces of nature, and thereby reaches enduring freedom rather than temporary gains.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The core teaching is that liberation comes from transcending the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—which govern embodied experience. When one is no longer driven by these qualities, one becomes free from the cycle marked by birth, death, aging, and suffering, and attains the ‘deathless’ state (amṛta), i.e., mokṣa.
In the dialogue on the battlefield, Arjuna is questioning the nature of spiritual freedom. Here he articulates (and prompts clarification of) the idea that the embodied self can go beyond the guṇas that arise with bodily existence, and that such transcendence results in release from existential suffering and attainment of immortality.