The Yoga of the Division of the Three Gunas

Krishna reveals the key to transcendence: 'Nānyaṁ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraṁ yadā draṣṭānupaśyati'—when the seer (draṣṭā) perceives (anupaśyati) no agent (kartāram) other (anyam) than the gunas. This is profound: you realize that the gunas themselves are the agents—everything happening is the play of the gunas. There's no separate 'you' doing things—it's the gunas acting. 'Guṇebhyaś ca paraṁ vetti mad-bhāvaṁ so 'dhigacchati'—and knowing (vetti) Me to be beyond (param) the gunas, he attains (adhigacchati) My nature (mad-bhāvam). This is the realization: the gunas are doing everything, but you, the soul, are separate from them. You're beyond the gunas, just like Krishna. When you realize this, you attain Krishna's nature—eternal, unchanging, beyond material modes. This is the foundation of transcendence.