BG 14.22

14.22 प्रकाशम् light? च and? प्रवृत्तिम् activity? च and? मोहम् delusion? एव even? च and? पाण्डव O Arjuna? न not? द्वेष्टि hates? सम्प्रवृत्तानि (when) gone forth? न not? निवृत्तानि when absent? काङ्क्षति longs.Commentary This is the answer to Arjunas first estion. Light is the effect of Sattva? activity of Rajas and delusion of Tamas. The liberated sage does not hate them when they are present. When Sattva shines he is not carried away by pride. He does not think? I am a vey learned man. When the impulse for action is awakened in the body or when there is a divine call for him to do work for the solidarity of the world (Lokasangraha) he does not hate any action and he does not regret it after the action is accomplished. He feels no remorse while performing actions. The work is like the play of a child. While inertia increases in him? he is not deluded by infatuation.Only an ignorant man thinks Tamas has entered into me. I am deluded. I am under the influence of heedlessness? torpor? sloth? laziness and indolence. Now I am under the influence of Rajas. I am forced to do activities. This is painful. I have fallen from my true nature. This gives me a lot of pain. Now Sattva predominates in me. I am attached to happiness and knowledge. I am proud of my learning and better status.The liberated sage who has transcended the Gunas does not thus hate them when they are present.A man of Sattva or Rajas or Tamas longs for light? action or inertia which first manifested themselves and disappeared. But a liberated sage or one who has gone beyond the three alities does not at all long for these states which have vanished. This mark or characteristic is an internal mental state. It cannot be perceived or detected by others. It can be felt by ones own self alone. If one is endowed with clairvoyant vision or the inner eye of intuition? he can directly behold the longins that arise in the mind of another man.In the following three verses the Lord gives His answer to Arjunas second estion What is the conduct of the sage who has crossed over the Gunas

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗

Arjuna submitted three different questions, and the Lord answers them one after another. In these verses, Kṛṣṇa first indicates that a person transcendentally situated has no envy and does not hanker for anything. When a living entity stays in this material world embodied by the material body, it is to be understood that he is under the control of one of the three modes of material nature. When he is actually out of the body, then he is out of the clutches of the material modes of nature. But as long as he is not out of the material body, he should be neutral. He should engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord so that his identity with the material body will automatically be forgotten. When one is conscious of the material body, he acts only for sense gratification, but when one transfers the consciousness to Kṛṣṇa, sense gratification automatically stops. One does not need this material body, and he does not need to accept the dictations of the material body. The qualities of the material modes in the body will act, but as spirit soul the self is aloof from such activities. How does he become aloof? He does not desire to enjoy the body, nor does he desire to get out of it. Thus transcendentally situated, the devotee becomes automatically free. He need not try to become free from the influence of the modes of material nature. The next question concerns the dealings of a transcendentally situated person. The materially situated person is affected by so-called honor and dishonor offered to the body, but the transcendentally situated person is not affected by such false honor and dishonor. He performs his duty in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and does not mind whether a man honors or dishonors him. He accepts things that are favorable for his duty in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, otherwise he has no necessity of anything material, either a stone or gold. He takes everyone as his dear friend who helps him in his execution of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and he does not hate his so-called enemy. He is equally disposed and sees everything on an equal level because he knows perfectly well that he has nothing to do with material existence. Social and political issues do not affect him, because he knows the situation of temporary upheavals and disturbances. He does not attempt anything for his own sake. He can attempt anything for Kṛṣṇa, but for his personal self he does not attempt anything. By such behavior one becomes actually transcendentally situated.

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗