14-20

गुणान् एतानतीत्य त्रीन् देही देहसमुद्भवान् ।
जन्म मृत्यु जरा दुःखैः विमुक्तोऽमृतम् अश्नुते ॥ २० ॥

guNAn etAnatItya trIn dehI dehasamudbhavAn |
janma mRtyu jarA duHkhaiH vimukto'mRtam aznute || 20 ||

अतीत्य [atItya] Having crossed over एतानि त्रीन् गुणान् [etAni trIn guNAn] these three qualities देहसमुद्भवान् [dehasamudbhavAn] that come from the body, देही [dehI] the owner of the body अश्नुते [aznute] enjoys अमृतम् [amRtam] the ever-lasting. विमुक्तः [vimuktaH] He is free from दुःखैः [duHkhaiH] the sorrow of जन्म [janma] birth, मृत्यु [mRtyu] death जरा [jarA] and old age.

The three qualities of sattva , rajas and tamas come from the environment. They have accumulated in the form of a body. When the owner of the body crosses over these qualities and sees the Self, he is free from the sorrow of birth, death and old age. The Self is in the form of pure knowledge, entirely distinct from the qualities of nature. He experiences the ever-lasting expanse of the Self - this is equivalence to the Lord.

Now, Arjuna asks about the behaviors that distinguish a person who has crossed over the three qualities . He also enquires about the way to cross over these qualities .