Transcending Gunas

December 20, 2025

K SIVA PRASAD
The writer is a senior IAS officer in the Punjab Government.

Krishna says that there is no karta for any karma. Karma is in fact the result of the interaction among the three gunas viz. satva, rajo and tamas which are a part of prakriti (nature).

Krishna advises Arjuna to transcend these gunas to be free from sorrows. Arjuna wanted to know how one can becomea guna-atheeth (one who has transcendedthe gunas)and what such a person is like upon attaining that state. Dwandwa-atheeth (transcending polarities), drishta (witness) and samatva (equanimity) are the qualities that are enshrined in the Gita. Krishna indicates that a combination of these three constitutes guna-atheeth.

According to Krishna, a person who has attained the state of guna-atheeth is the one who realizes that gunas are interacting with gunas and therefore, remains a sakshi (witness). He neither craves for a particular guna nor is he averse to any other one. Guna-atheeth is alsodwandwa-atheethat the same time. After understanding the polarities of pleasure and pain, longing and aversion; he remains neutral to them. He is neutral to praise and criticism as he realises that these are products of the three gunas. Similarly, he is neutral to friends and enemies realising that we are our own friends when we lift ourselves and our own enemies when we lower ourselves.
The physical world is polar and swings are natural. On the other hand, a swinging pendulum also needs a stationary point. Lord Krishna is hinting at reaching that stationary point from where we can just witness the swinging without being part of it i.e. polarities.
Guna-atheeth gives equal importance to gold, stone and a handful of soil. This metaphorical comparison conveys that he doesn’t assign a higher value to one and a lower value to another. He values things as they are, not as valued by peers.
Krishna further says that guna-atheeth is the one who shuns the feeling of karta. This happens when we realise, through our experiences, that things unfold automatically and there is hardly any place for karta.