Whether it is due to virtue or sin, karma bears fruit, and if a person is involved in any form of karma, his mind is said to be “tainted” with the desire to enjoy the fruits of action.

As long as the mind remains impure, consciousness remains obscured, and as long as one follows the path of self-interested action, one must assume a material body. When a living being is under the influence of ignorance, he cannot understand the nature of the separate soul [the individual spiritual soul distinct from God] and that of the Supreme Soul; his mind is then subject to the yoke of self-interested action.

Consequently, as long as he lacks love for God, he will certainly not be exempt from donning material bodies.

Under the influence of the three gunas [the three attributes and modes of influence of material nature; virtue, passion, and ignorance], the soul, misled by the false ego [identifying with its body and dominating material nature], believes itself to be the author of its actions, when in reality, they are performed by material nature.

A wise man asked the Lord: By what signs do we recognize a being who has transcended the three gunas [the three attributes and modes of influence of material nature: virtue, passion, and ignorance], how does he behave, and by what means does he transcend these gunas?

Lord Krishna replies: One who feels no aversion, whether to enlightenment, attachment, or delusion, who also feels no craving for these things in their absence, who, above these fruits borne by the three gunas, stands as neutral, ever unyielding, aware that nothing acts outside them, who regards pleasure and pain with the same eye, and for whom a clod of earth, gold, and stone are of equal value, who is wise and holds praise and blame as identical, who is unaffected by fame or disgrace, who treats friends and enemies equally, and who has renounced all self-interested endeavors, is said to have transcended the three gunas.

One who is completely absorbed in devotional service, without ever failing, then transcends the three gunas and thus attains the spiritual level.

I am the foundation of the Impersonal Spiritual Being [the only aspect of God known to believers on earth], who is immortal, inexhaustible, eternal, and who constitutes the very principle of ultimate happiness.

Lord Krishna reveals to us the most secret of knowledge.

Perfect renunciation that leads to true freedom. The perfection of action.

True renunciation is practiced by one who renounces the fruits of action. One can enjoy the fruits of renunciation through simple self-control, detachment from worldly things, and disinterest in material pleasures. This, in fact, lies the highest perfection of renunciation.