Bhagavad-gita As It Is Chapter 14 Verse 20

Chapter 14: The Three Modes Of Material Nature

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 14.20

guṇān etān atītya trīn

dehī deha-samudbhavān

janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair

vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute

SYNONYMS

guṇān — qualities; etān — all these; atītya — transcending; trīn — three; dehī — the embodied; deha — the body; samudbhavān — produced of; janma — of birth; mṛtyu — death; jarā — and old age; duḥkhaiḥ — the distresses; vimuktaḥ — being freed from; amṛtam — nectar; aśnute — he enjoys.

TRANSLATION

When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.

PURPORT

How one can stay in the transcendental position, even in this body, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is explained in this verse. The Sanskrit word dehī means "embodied." Although one is within this material body, by his advancement in spiritual knowledge he can be free from the influence of the modes of nature. He can enjoy the happiness of spiritual life even in this body because, after leaving this body, he is certainly going to the spiritual sky. But even in this body he can enjoy spiritual happiness. In other words, devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the sign of liberation from material entanglement, and this will be explained in the Eighteenth Chapter. When one is freed from the influence of the modes of material nature, he enters into devotional service.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness