Chapter 2, Verse 45
trai-guṇya viṣayā vedā
nistrai-guṇyo bhavārjuna
nir-dvandvo nitya satvastho
nir-yoga kṣema ātmavān
The Vedas deal with the three gunas, O Arjuna. You must free yourself from the three gunas and from all duality. Abide in pure sattva; never care to acquire
things or to protect what has been acquired; be established in the Self.
“The Vedas deal with the three gunas,” which are sattva, rajas, and tamas. “You must free yourself from the three gunas and from all duality.” Here Lord Krishna says that everything in this world functions because of the three gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas. Even the Vedas talk about these three gunas. But Krishna says, “If you want to rise, you have to go above the three gunas.” If you are trapped in the game of the three gunas, you will always have judgement. The tamas is always judging the sattva and the sattva is always judging the rajas, and so on like that. Each one is thinking, “Oh, I am sattvic.” The tamas always hate the sattvic and rajasic.
Recently somebody was talking with a friend about some food and asked, “Can I eat this?” The other one said, “That’s very rajasic!” There is always a fight between rajas, tamas, and sattva. These three gunas, these three qualities, are the three qualities of the mind. It’s not the outside thing that we are eating or drinking. No! It’s the attitude of the mind, how one perceives things and how much one is hanging
onto judgement. One is continuously judging, “This is like this and this is like that.”
“Abide in pure Sattva.” Sattva is the state of the Self. Whoever abides in the Self, “never cares to acquire things or to protect what has been acquired, but is established in the Self.” The one who is free from this game of the three gunas, the one who has risen above these three gunas, is fully centred in the Atma. Here the word, Atma, means the Divine, God, Narayana Krishna Himself. As long as one has not controlled the mind, one is in the body consciousness. Here the Lord says, “Move from the body consciousness: focus, centre yourself, establish yourself in the Self.” If these three gunas, these three qualities are under control, one can rise above them. Know that God is above these qualities. And God is in all, everything: sattva, rajas and tamas.
Slowly, slowly, Krishna is bringing Arjuna out of his depression. He is revealing to him the Atma. Later on, He will reveal to him God Himself.
Bhagavad Gita