14.20
गुणानेतानतीत्य त्रीन्
देही देहसमुद्भवान् ।
जन्ममृत्युजरादुःखैर्
विमुक्तोऽमृतमश्नुते ॥
guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī dehasamudbhavān
janmamṛtyujarāduḥkhair vimukto 'mṛtam aśnute
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन).
The verse
The embodied one, having crossed these three strands from which the body comes to be, freed from birth, death, old age, and pain, attains the deathless.
नेपालीमा
देही, जसबाट शरीर बन्छ ती तीन गुण नाघेर, जन्म, मृत्यु, बुढ्यौली र दुःखबाट मुक्त भएर, अमृत पाउँछ।
Where it sits
14.19 brought the seer to the being of Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण), and this verse says that crossing as freedom from birth, death, old age, and pain, and as the attaining of the deathless.
Split: गुणान् + एतान् + अतीत्य + त्रीन् + देही + देह-समुद्भवान् + जन्म-मृत्यु-जरा-दुःखैः + विमुक्तः + अमृतम् + अश्नुते
guṇān + etān + atītya + trīn + dehī + deha-samudbhavān + janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhaiḥ + vimuktaḥ + amṛtam + aśnute
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| गुणान् | guṇān | accusative plural | the strands. |
| एतान् | etān | accusative plural | these. Agrees with guṇān (गुणान्). |
| अतीत्य | atītya | gerund | having crossed. ati-i (अति-इ). |
| त्रीन् | trīn | accusative plural | three. Agrees with guṇān (गुणान्). |
| देही | dehī | nominative | the embodied one. |
| देह-समुद्भवान् | deha-samudbhavān | accusative plural | from which the body comes to be. Agrees with guṇān (गुणान्). |
| जन्म-मृत्यु-जरा-दुःखैः | janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhaiḥ | instrumental plural | from birth, death, old age, and pain. One ending for four nouns. |
| विमुक्तः | vimuktaḥ | nominative | freed. Agrees with dehī (देही). |
| अमृतम् | amṛtam | accusative neuter | the deathless. |
| अश्नुते | aśnute | present, 3rd singular, middle | he attains. aś (अश्). |
The phrases
गुणान् एतान् अतीत्य त्रीन् देही देह-समुद्भवान् guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān is the crossing. The embodied one, having crossed these three strands, the ones from which a body comes to be. deha-samudbhavān (देह-समुद्भवान्) agrees with guṇān (गुणान्). The strands are not born from the body. The body comes to be from them.
जन्म-मृत्यु-जरा-दुःखैः विमुक्तः अमृतम् अश्नुते janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhaiḥ vimuktaḥ amṛtam aśnute is what the crossing frees him for. Freed from birth, death, old age, and pain, he attains the deathless. vimuktaḥ (विमुक्तः) agrees with dehī (देही).
Sanskrit in this line
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhaiḥ (जन्म-मृत्यु-जरा-दुःखैः) is one instrumental plural, four nouns, the ending --aiḥ (ऐः) said once on duḥkha (दुःख). With vimuktaḥ (विमुक्तः), "freed," that instrumental answers "freed from what," not "freed by what." Birth, death, old age, and pain are what he is loosed from. They are not the means of the loosing.
Say it back
Cover the English. Say what he has crossed, then what he is freed from. If the instrumental is said as "freed by birth," stay here.