He whose actions are not motivated by the false ego [identification with his body and domination of matter], whose intelligence does not become bogged down, even if he were to be killed in this world, never kills. Nor do his actions ever bind him.

Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower are the three factors that give rise to action. The senses, the act itself, and its author form the triple basis of all action.

The three orders of knowledge, actions, and doers.

There are three orders of knowledge, actions, and doers. They correspond to the three gunas [the three modes of influence of material nature: virtue, passion, and ignorance].

Listen to Me describing them to you.

The knowledge by which one distinguishes in all existences a single, imperishable spiritual essence, one within the many—this knowledge, know it, proceeds from Virtue.

But the knowledge by which one perceives the existence, in various bodies, of as many beings with different natures—this knowledge, know it, belongs to Passion.

As for the knowledge by which, blind to the truth, one clings to a single kind of action, as if it were everything—this knowledge, being very limited, is said to pertain to the darkness of Ignorance.

An act dictated by duty, an act performed without attachment, without likes or dislikes, and accompanied by the renunciation of its fruits, is said to proceed from Virtue.

But an act performed through great effort, an act aimed at the satisfaction of desires, and motivated by the false ego, is said to belong to Passion.

As for an act performed in unconsciousness and delusion, without considering the consequences or chain of events it entails, which inflicts violence on others and proves impracticable, is said to be a matter of ignorance.

A person who is free from all material attachment, free from the false ego, enthusiastic, resolute, and indifferent to success and failure, is said to be under the sign of Virtue. But the doer who clings to the fruits of his labor, who passionately desires to enjoy them, who is greedy, envious, impure, tossed about by joys and sorrows, is said to be dominated by Passion.

The doer who always goes against the precepts of scripture, materialistic, stubborn, deceitful, and adept at insults, lazy, always morose, who constantly puts things off, is said to be steeped in Ignorance.

The Three Kinds of Intelligence and Determination.

Now listen in detail. I will describe for you the three kinds of intelligence and determination, according to the three gunas.