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GITĀ, TRANSLATION & COMMENTARY, CHAP. II 889
['traigunya' means the 'worldly life (samsara) of Prakrti made up of the three constituents sattva, rajas, and tamas'; and it has been clearly shown in the Gita-Rahasya (p. 314 and 353) that the true Brahmana is beyond that, and that worldly life is made up of the perishable Opposites of happiness and unhappiness, life and death etc. It has been stated in the 43rd stanza of this very chapter, that people, who follow the Mimamsă doctrine, perform the Yajñas etc. prescribed by the Śrutis, in order to obtain the happiness pertaining to this worldly life of Prakrti or Mays, and that they are entirely steeped in these practices; some perform a sacrificial ritual in order to obtain a son, whereas others perform some other sacrificial rite in order that rain should fall. All this ritual is necessary for 'the maintenance of worldly life', that is, for 'yogaksema'. It is, therefore, clear that one who wishes to attain Release, must go beyond these ritualistic practices, which are the result of the sattva, rajas and tamas constituents, and which bring about only yogakşema, and must concentrate his attention on the Parabrahman, Which is beyond all this. And the words 'nirdiandva (beyond the Opposites-Trans.) and 'niryogaksema' (beyond the anxiety for new acquisitions and the protection of old acquisitions-Trans.) have been used above to convey this idea. In this place, a doubt is likely to arise as to how yogakşema will be carried on, if these desire-prompted (kümya) but this is difficult to understand, as there seems no reason for repeating the idea. The late Mr. Telang, therefore, translates 'sattva" here as 'courage'; and Dr. Besant as 'purity'. As 'saflea' is one of the three constituents, and as the Blessed Lord has just asked Arjuna to be beyond the three constituents', 'nityasattvastha' cannot be understood as referring to the 'sattva' constituent. Therefore, Prof. W. D. P. Hill (Bhagavadgitä, Ox. Univ. Press, 1928, p. 120) has translated the word 'sattva' in its more general sense of Truth', which has been adopted by me. Sadashiva Shastri Bhide has got over the difficulty by explaining 'nistraigun ya' as free from the desires to enjoy pleasures arising from the three constituents', and by then explaining 'nityasatteastha' as meaning 'possessing the sättvika qualities of equability, perseverance, enthusiasm' etc.Translator.
