Sanskrit
कैर्लिङ्गैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो । किमाचारः कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते ॥
kair liṅgais trīn guṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho kim ācāraḥ kathaṃ caitāṃs trīn guṇān ativartate
Translation
What are the marks of him who hath crossed over the three qualities, O Lord? How acteth he, and how doth he go beyond these three qualities?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna speaks for the first time in the chapter, and the question is structurally identical to 2.54’s “what are the marks of the man of steady wisdom?” — not a request for more theory but for a description of a concrete person. Krishna’s answer runs verses 22-25, mirroring how 2.55-72 answered the parallel question about the sthitaprajna. The two portraits describe essentially the same state from different vocabularies — chapter 2 through psychological composure, this chapter through the specific lens of standing apart from the three gunas.
Concepts