Upaniṣads · Gaṇapati 6.1
॥
Devanāgarī
त्वं गुणत्रयातीतः । त्वं अवस्थात्रयातीतः । त्वं देहत्रयातीतः । त्वं कालत्रयातीतः
Transliteración (IAST)
tvaṃ guṇatrayātītaḥ | tvaṃ avasthātrayātītaḥ | tvaṃ dehatrayātītaḥ | tvaṃ kālatrayātītaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
त्वं गुण-त्रय-अतीतःtvaṃ guṇa-traya-atītaḥyou who have transcended the three qualities
त्वम् अवस्था-त्रय-अतीतःtvam avasthā-traya-atītaḥyou who have transcended the three states
त्वं देह-त्रय-अतीतःtvaṃ deha-traya-atītaḥyou who have transcended the three bodies
त्वं काल-त्रय-अतीतःtvaṃ kāla-traya-atītaḥyou who have transcended the three times
Traducción
You who have transcended the three qualities, you who have transcended the three states, you who have transcended the three bodies, you who have transcended the three times.
Versión
1db5fab029fa · publicado 12 ago 2026, 5:00:00 UTC
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Four triads, and all four are what binds a person; they deserve to be named one by one, for together they form the full inventory of bondage. Guṇa-traya — sattva, rajas, tamas: the three qualities of which everything material is woven and by which temperament is determined. Avasthā-traya — waking, dreaming sleep, deep sleep: the three states through which a person cycles every day. Their analysis makes up the whole of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad.
Deha-traya — the gross body, the subtle (mind and senses), and the causal (that which remains at death and carries the consequences). Kāla-traya — past, present, future. The four series cover everything: what one is made of, in what state, in what body, in what time. And of Him it is said that He is beyond all four.
The non-dual reading concludes from this that the highest is devoid of all qualities whatsoever, nirguṇa, and every description of it is a concession. The Vaiṣṇava side draws attention to the very word guṇa, and its objection here is precise. Guṇa does not mean "quality in general" but precisely the three material strands — that is how the word stands in every enumeration. To be nirguṇa is to be beyond matter, not to be devoid of qualities.
This distinction is confirmed by the Gītā itself, where it is said of the highest, in a single verse, both things at once: "it seems to possess the qualities of the senses — yet is devoid of qualities" (13.15). If nirguṇa meant "without any properties at all," the verse would be a direct self-contradiction. The consequence for the reader is simple and worth keeping. The one beyond the three guṇas is not colorless and not empty: he is beyond this coloring, not beyond every coloring; and so the descriptions that will follow in the ninth part — a red color, four arms, a large belly — do not contradict what is said here.