dominating Virtue and Ignorance, Passion wins; and sometimes it is Virtue which conquers Passion and Ignorance. Still other times, Ignorance, in turn, overthrows Virtue and Passion. Thus, the struggle for reign never ceases between the gunas. When the Passion grows, then with it do the signs of great attachment, of uncontrollable desires, of ardent aspirations and of intense effort. The Passion attaches the being to the fruits of his acts. He who dies under passion is reborn among men who devote themselves to self-interested action. Actions performed under the influence of passion cause distress. From passion arises greed. Those dominated by passion remain on the middle planets, of terrestrial types.
As for Ignorance, know that it causes the bewilderment of all beings. This guna causes madness, indolence and sleep, which enchain the embodied soul. When ignorance rises, then are born darkness, inertia, insanity and delusion. Ignorance attaches the being to madness. He who dies of ignorance is reborn in the world of beasts. Actions done under the influence of ignorance lead to foolishness. Out of ignorance springs madness, foolishness and delusion. Those who are enveloped in ignorance fall into the infernal worlds (hell).
When the incarnate being is able to overcome the three gunas (the three attributes and modes of influence of material nature; virtue), passion and ignorance), he frees himself from birth, death, old age, as well as the sufferings they cause. He can therefore enjoy ambrosia, in this very life.
Although still incarnate, the human being can, by cultivating spiritual knowledge, free himself from the influence of the three gunas. Even in his present body he can benefit from the happiness of the spiritual life, for, after leaving his body, he is assured of reaching the spiritual world. In other words, a man freed from the grip of the attributes of material nature is recognized by what he is established in devotional service, Krishna consciousness or God consciousness. Indeed, when one is freed from the three gunas, one adopts devotional service, Krishna consciousness (thanks to which we can approach God, and see him face to face).
He who does not feel any aversion, whether before enlightenment, attachment or delusion, who also does not feel any thirst for these things in their absence; who, above these fruits which the three gunas bear; virtue, passion and ignorance, stands as neutral, always inflexible, aware that nothing acts outside of them; who regards pleasure and suffering with the same eye, and for whom the clod of earth, gold and stone are of equal value, who is wise and considers praise and blame to be identical; who is affected neither by glory nor by shame, who treats equally friends and enemies, and who has renounced any self-interested enterprise, of this one is said to have transcended the three gunas. Whoever is fully absorbed in devotional service, without ever failing, therefore transcends the three gunas and thus reaches the spiritual level.