Verse 14.20

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 14.20:

गुणान् एतान् अतीत्य त्रीन् देही देह-समुद्भवान् ।
जन्म-मृत्यु-जरा-दुःखैर् विमुक्तोऽमृतम् अश्नुते ॥ २० ॥

guṇān etān atītya trīn dehī deha-samudbhavān |
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhair vimukto'mṛtam aśnute || 20 ||

guṇān–qualities; etān–these; atītya–after transcending; trīn–three; dehī–the embodied being; deha-samudbhavān–which produce the body; janma-mṛtyu-jarā-duḥkhaiḥ–from the miseries of birth, death, old age and other sufferings (such as disease); vimuktaḥ–becomes fully liberated; amṛtam–immortality; aśnute–attains.

After transcending these three binding qualities, which are the cause of the material body, the embodied living entity attains freedom from the bondage of birth, death, old age and other miseries, and he attains liberation.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

He then becomes free from the modes of nature after attaining that state wherein he sees material nature as the only doer. Śrī Bhagavān, therefore, speaks this verse beginning with the word guṇān.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

A person who has attained the nature of brahma is not affected by the miseries of birth, death, old age and disease. Even those who have attained perfection in jñāna by performing mixed devotion (bhakti-miśra-jñāna) relinquish jñāna to attain transcendental devotion to the lotus feet of Bhagavān. Remaining engaged in the bliss of that service, they finally taste the nectar of prema. In contrast, the nirviśeṣa-jñānīs, who simply cultivate jñāna with the aim of attaining the featureless aspect of the Supreme, achieve nothing. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.14.4) it is stated, “śreyaḥ-sṛtiṃ bhaktim udasya–only the pure devotees (śuddha-bhaktas) of Śrī Bhagavān transcend the modes of material nature, no one else.”