न तदस्ति पृथिव्यां वा दिवि देवेषु वा पुनः | सत्त्वं प्रकृतिजैर्मुक्तं यदेभिः स्यात्त्रिभिर्गुणैः ||
na tad asti pṛthivyāṁ vā divi deveṣu vā punaḥ sattvaṁ prakṛti-jair muktaṁ yad ebhiḥ syāt tribhir guṇaiḥ
Translation
There is no being on earth, or among the gods in heaven, that is free from these three gunas born of Prakriti.
Interpretation
The universality of the gunas: not humans alone, not just embodied beings, not even the gods of heaven are free from the three gunas. The entire spectrum of existence — from earth to the highest celestial realms — is woven from these three threads of nature. This universality is both humbling (even the gods are under the sway of gunas) and pointing toward something beyond: the only thing free from the gunas is the Purushottama, the Supreme Person, who transcends Prakriti entirely. Liberation means joining that transcendence.