गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्देही देहसमुद्भवान् ।जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते ॥
guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī dehasamudbhavān |janmamṛtyujarāduḥkhair vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute ||
- गुणान् · guṇān
- the strands
- एतान् · etān
- these
- अतीत्य · atītya
- having crossed beyond
- त्रीन् · trīn
- three
- देही · dehī
- the embodied one
- देहसमुद्भवान् · dehasamudbhavān
- born of the body (of nature)
- जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैः · janmamṛtyujarāduḥkhaiḥ
- from birth, death, old age, and sorrow
- विमुक्तः · vimuktaḥ
- freed
- अमृतम् · amṛtam
- the deathless
- अश्नुते · aśnute
- enjoys, attains
“Rising above these three strands, born of the body, the embodied one is freed from birth, death, old age, and sorrow — and tastes the deathless.”
— Original plain-language translation
Transcendence is possible while still embodied — the next verses will describe exactly how such a person lives. Note the gunas are called body-born: they belong to the frame, not the dweller. Freedom is thus recovery of one's native state, not acquisition of something new.
— Reader's notes (original)