Verse 40

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In plain words

There is no being on earth, nor even among the gods in heaven, that is free from these three guṇas born of Prakṛti.

Word for word

There is no being, on earth or again in heaven among the gods, which would be free of these three guṇas born of prakṛti.

Sri Satchitananda Sai
Other commentaries

The commentators

Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam

अथ इदानीं प्रकरणोपसंहारार्थः श्लोकः आरभ्यते —

न तत् अस्ति तत् नास्ति पृथिव्यां वा मनुष्यादिषु सत्त्वं प्राणिजातम् अन्यद्वा अप्राणि, दिवि देवेषु वा पुनः सत्त्वम् , प्रकृतिजैः प्रकृतितः जातैः एभिः त्रिभिः गुणैः सत्त्वादिभिः मुक्तं परित्यक्तं यत् स्यात् , न तत् अस्ति इति पूर्वेण सम्बन्धः ॥ ४० ॥

In plain words

Now, at last, a verse begins whose whole purpose is to bring this section to its close —

'There is no such thing' — meaning: it simply does not exist. Not on earth, that is, among human beings and every creature after them, not in the whole breathing order of life, and not in anything else either, anything that does not breathe. And not again up in heaven, among the gods. Nowhere any being that these three guṇas have let go of, that they have completely abandoned — the three born out of prakṛti, produced from prakṛti, sattva and the rest. 'There is no such thing': that is how this phrase hooks back to the words before it.

Close to the Sanskrit

Now, at this point, a verse whose purpose is to conclude the section is begun —

'There is not that' — that does not exist: on the earth, that is, among humans and the rest, a being, the whole class of breathing creatures, or else something other, non-breathing; or again in heaven, among the gods, a being — whichever would be free, wholly abandoned, by these three guṇas born of prakṛti, that is, produced from prakṛti, namely sattva and the rest: 'that does not exist' — such is the connection with the preceding words.