3GUNAS
In Samkhya philosophy, a Guna is one
or three tendencies: Sattva, Tamas, and Rajas. These categories have become a
common means of categorizing behavior and natural phenomenon in Hindu
Philosophy and also in Ayurvedic Medicine, as a system to assess conditions and
diets. For this reason Triguna and Tridosha are considered to be related in the
traditions of Ayurveda. Guna is the tendency not action itself. For instance,
Sattva guna is the tendency towards purity but is not purity itself. Similarly
Rajas guna is that force with tends to create action but is not action itself.
Each of the 3 gunas is ever present simultaneously in every particle of
creation but the variations in equilibrium manifest all the variety in creation
including matter, mind, body and spirit. Life in the universe is a wonderful
mystery. Human beings have the privilege of seeking the meaning, experiencing
the mystery and realizing the purpose of life. In a triadic approach based on
the Vedas, existence of life can be described through God (Iswara), Universe (Jagat)
and an individual Soul (Jeeva). Any individual could see the universe as an
entity that consists of all beings including other individuals and nature.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna
talks about the 3 gunas Modes of Instinct) that are pre installed in all
beings. These modes of nature include Sattva (goodness or purity), Rajas (Passion)
and Tamas (Darkness). All Jeevas (Souls) and their activities in the universe
are bound to nature through the 3 modes and the ratio of these modes in an
individual forms one’s temperament. In Hindu thought, no one in the perceptible
universe is supposed to escape the 3 gunas as any soul outside the range of
nature is defined as Brahma (God) himself
or is assumed to have reached the state of emancipation. Lord Krishna
(Embodiment of Wisdom) preached The Gita to Arjuna (Embodiment of Skills) to
motivate him to perform his duty when he faced an ethical dilemma whether or not
to kill his relatives and friends in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. There are
700 verses (Slokas) in eighteen chapters in the Bhagavad Gita which an address
spiritual, mental, intellectual and health problems of mankind.
In the Bagavad Gita, Arjuna asks
Lord Sri Krishna how he can recognize the man who has gone beyond the 3 gunas
and what has he done to have gone beyond them? Lord Sri Krishna replies by
listing the characteristics of such a person and by reiterating the central theme
in the Gita: non-attachment to the fruits of one’s labour:
Whatever quality arises –
Light, activity, delusion-
He neither dislikes its presence
Nor desire it when it is not there.
He who is unattached,
Who is not disturbed by the gunas?
Who is firmly rooted and knows
That only the gunas are acting
Who is equally self-contained?
In pain or pleasure, in happiness
Or sorrow, who is content
With whatever happens, who sees
Dirt, rocks and gold as equal,
Who is unperturbed amid praise?
Or blame of him, indifferent,
To honor and disgrace,
Serene in success and failure,
Impartial to friend and foe,
Unattached to action – that man
Has gone beyond the three gunas. He
who faithfully serve me With the yoga of devotion, going Beyond the 3 gunas, is
ready To attain the ultimate freedom. (Bhagavad Gita, A new Translation by
Stephen Mitchell, 2000) In the context
of human actions, Sattva mode represents perfect or ideal behavior and it involves
all good qualities like truth, honesty, discipline, punctuality, righteousness,
perseverance, politeness and enthusiasm in work. In comparison Rajas karma is
money-oriented and calculative, with a tinge of egoism. Work in this mode is
performed to fulfill one’s material greed. Tamas mode is active when we do
some3thing in a state of total confusion, when our intellect starts making
wrong judgments. Human qualities are something that cannot always be taught.
When our parents and teachers brief us about it in our childhood days and try
to instill these qualities in us, it is also up to the individual to imbibe
them at the same time. A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet
must write, if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must
be. This is the need we may call urge for excellence, knowledge, confidence,
self-actualization and concern for others (Sattvik Qualities)… referring to a
person’s desire for fulfillment, namely to the tendency to become actually what
we are potentially. For millions of men, women and children in India. The epic
of Ramayana has a profound effect on their spiritual progress and culture. It
is not just a book of beautiful poetry, it is a Darma Shastra expounding lofty
ethical ideal. The modern society needs to follow the Dharma that is contained
in the Epic Ramayana. What is the reason? Today the son is not paying heed to
his father’s advice and the parents are not concerned about the future of the son.
Devotion to the Guru should be the aim of the student. But the students are not
having regard for their teachers and the teachers are not imparting anything
good to them. In such a situation, everyone needs to follow the ideals of
Ramayana. The Ramayana speaks of the true identity of the individual, the real
significance of the family and the sanctity of the society. The Ramayana
teaches the importance of human qualities and values. According to the
Bhagavad-Gita, the gunas (the primary qualities of nature) are 3 in number:
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. They exist in all beings, including human beings, in various
degrees of concentration and combination. Depending upon their relative strengths
and combination. They determine nature of beings, its action, behavior,
attitude and its attachment to the objective world in which it lives.
Bhagavad Gita which an address
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas Gunas in an individual:
Sattva = Goodness, Rajas = Passion,
Tamas = Darkness.
The Sattvic Guna
We always praise Sattva and regard
it as a very desirable thing. But it is like a transparent glass that is placed
between us and the truth. Sattva is a state of mind in which the mind is steady,
calm and peaceful. A Sattvika man or woman works with no attachment to the results.
Sattvika individuals are always working for the welfare of the world. They are hardworking,
alert, and generous. They live life moderately and have good memory and concentration.
Sattvic qualities include leading a chaste life, eating moderately, using preside
language and speaking truths palatably. A satvic individual can be recognized
if their mind, speech and actions
synchronize: MANASA, VACHA, KARMANA are the 3 Sanskrit words used to describe
such a state. Some of the people considered by Hindus to be Sattvika are;
· Holy men and Bhaktas like Tulasidas,
Tukaram
· Ancient Rishis like Vasista,
Kashyapa
· Modern day Sages like Ramana
Maharishi and Swami Vivekananda
The quote from an Ancient Indian
Text, Shilpa Shasta, “ A Sattvic person is a good human being, generous in
spirit, not given to anger, holy, learned, self-controlled, devote, charitable
and taking delight in the care of the self and the care of the earth.” The
Sattvic person embodies fairness courage, self-command, good sense and wisdom.
The Sattvic mind leads to inner and outer freedom, freedom for self as well as
for others. Thus the Satvic tendency is always towards minimum impact.
Characteristics
Sattva guna is the “spiritual
quality”. When Sattva guna is dominant, a person has inherent desire to be good
and caring. There is a resolute constancy of mind and senses. When Sattva is
prevalent, the light of wisdom shines through the individual. Sattvic intellect
clearly understands the difference
between desirable and undesirable, undutiful and dutiful action. When Sattva is
dominant a person does his work as a duty. An action is done with calm
understanding and the person is free from doubts. The result of Sattvic actions
is transparency and happiness.
The outcome may appear like poison
at as first but gives happiness afterwards Sattva guna gives enlightenment and
health. When Sattva guna is dominant, a
person loves food that promotes longevity, vitality, endurance, health,cheerfulness.
Sattvic food is aromatic, mild and agreeable to the body.
Strength
Respect for gurus, non-violence,
meditation, kindliness, silence, self-control and purity of
character are the motive force of Sattvic action.
Limitations
Sattva guna binds a person through
attachment to happiness and knowledge. It describes
the limits of goodness through gives freedom from agitation.
The Sattva guna also brings with it the problem of goodness. Being clean in all
respect is good but when such person becomes obsessed with cleanliness and
imposes this on others, they may develop negative feelings towards virtue of
such clean habits.
The Rajasic Guna
The Rajasic way is the way of
diplomacy. Diplomacy can conceal a fixed position and self- interest, but outwardly
show patience, politeness and peaceable intent. It tries to find a way to
convince, to win over through argument, bargaining and even bribery. It tries
to avoid confrontation or a breakdown in communication. It is the way of making
deals, business contracts and political treaties.
Characteristics
Rajas Guna is the “active quality”.
Rajas guna is imbued with passion, giving birth to desire. When Rajas guna is
dominant, it causes greed, activity, undertaking of works, restlessness
and desire. Rajasic guna strongly binds the person to bodily
activities and selfish interests. When Rajas is dominant a person is full of
attachment, full of longing for fruits of action, full of greed. Due to
dominance of self interest, the intellect gives distorted picture of right or wrong.
Rajasic acts are done in the hope of rewards. Self-importance, fame, honor and admiration
are the motive forces of Rajasic action.
The result of Rajasic action is
little joy and many worries; it gives happiness in the beginning but delivers
poison in the end When Rajas guna is dominant a person derives happiness from
conjunction of senses, she/he prefers food that are bitter, sour, salty,
excessively hot and pungent.
Strength
When Rajas guna is dominant a person
has resolute inner patience along with desires. She/he pays homage to wealth
and power and strives hard to acquire it.
Limitations
Rajas Guna binds a person through
attachment to activities and self-satisfaction. When Rajasic influence
dominates there is desire for acquisition of things and attachment to things
acquired already. The person normally remains in a stable equilibrium. But when
she/he looks at an object of desire the equilibrium is disturbed and the mind
is filled with ‘Passion’ expressing in a million different urges, desires,
emotions and feelings.
The Tamasic Guna
The tamasic way is the way of
monologues. Monologue has blind faith in its own rightness. It starts from the
position of “I am right, you are wrong.” Monologue threatens, Cajoles, Calls
names, denigrates, imposes and resorts to brute force. It leads o monopoly and monoculture.
Tamas is trapped in Monologue. It wants its own way, regardless. It embraces violence
and is driven by anger, pride, greed, illusion and lust. It justifies errors
and never recognizes them, even when everyone can see that things have gone
wrong; a Tamasic person finds it hard to say sorry.
Characteristics
Tamas Guna is the ‘material
quality’. Tamas arises from hopes and illusions. Tamas produces ambiguity,
idleness, fantasy and persistence. As things and objects appear solid, liquid
or gaseous hiding the quantum energy within the Tamas guna eclipses the power
of discrimination. Tamas guna attaches people to myth, immobility and rest. When
Tamas guna is dominant a person is cautious, unyielding and apprehensive.
Tamasic action, such a person deals with others with contempt or without
goodwill.
Such a person pays homage to
external factors, luck and outside forces. The result of Tamasic action is disillusionment
and cynicism. When Tamasic guna is dominant a person derives happiness which
originates and and ends in self-delusion and miscomprehension. Under the
influence of Tamas a person is not willing to abandon panic, distress and
pride. Under the influence of Tamasic guna a person prefers foods that are
non-nutritious, bland, decaying, stale and impure.
Strength
A Tamasic act is done to satisfy
physical and emotional needs. When Tamas guna is dominant a person is willing
to work very hard, if required. Under the influence of Tamas a person looks at
things in an unusual way. A person can obtain self control by understanding the
nature of Tamasic guna. Self control is obtained by control over tendency for
sense enjoyment. This self control can be achieved by cultivating sensitiveness
to rising feelings for sense enjoyment. This self control results in deep
peace. Loss of self control results in duality of feelings for material objects
such as pain and pleasure.
Limitations
Tamas guna binds a person through
attachment to possessions. When Tamas guna is dominant a person always acts in
self-interest. But the world is not designed to cater to any particular
individual. As a result these demands remain unfulfilled. Mind is always discontented
disturbed.
Combination of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas Gunas Characteristics
This is a blend of all the qualities
of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. This produces the values and belief systems of an
individual. Ability to change as a combination of anger plus ambition plus hard
work plus spirituality. Whatever is the dominant guna at any particular time people
continue to reflect and learn from previous experience and continue to change? Based
on the stage in life, people may have variable measure of this combination.
This combination denotes the ability of people to be flexible or rigid in their
principles and beliefs. This enables them to keep their options open till the
last moment of action. Such ability may also be termed as adaptability to
situations.
Strength
The combination helps in creating
harmony, understanding and learning. It leads to understanding others resulting
in some good work being. This combination gives rise to flexibility and
adaptability in a person.
Limitations
Sattva-Rajas-Tamas guna gombination
binds a person through attachment to need for harmony. Any deviation from
harmony is troublesome to such a person. Taken to the extreme, the person may
become compromising and lose focus. The purpose of such an elaborate
description of these 3 qualities in the Gita is not to encourage us to become
Sattvic or eliminate other qualities. The gunas whether it is Sattva or Rajas
or Tamas are responsible for our illusion and all suffering on earth. The Gita therefore
aims to make us free from these qualities completely by making us clarly understand
the nature of these qualities and how they tend to keep us in bondage and illusion.
Even cultivation of Sattva is not an end in itself. It is only the means to
overcome passion and ignorance and thereby achieve self-realization through the
purity of the mind and the heart. One should forget that it actually binds us
to the mortal world through its tendency to attach itself to happiness and
knowledge.
The Fourth guna – Nirguna
The three gunas are themselves felt
qualities or colorations of awareness, the pure awareness of them is itself a
“Fourth” guna. One free of and beyond all gunas – “Nirguna”. Nirguna is
characterized by a sense of the colorless translucency of pure awareness as such.
The pure ‘White’ of the Sattva guna is but the best reflector of the
translucent, colorless light of pure awareness of Nirguna. Behind the symbolism
and experienced reality of the three gunas and Nirguna lies a particular
experience of awareness in relation to being. The three gunas express a triadic
‘ontology’ of awareness (From Greek ONTOS – Being)
TAMAS, BLACK – the essentially
Tamasic dimension of pure awareness is the experience of it as a negation of
being and of beings – as non- being.
Yet non – being is not a black hole
of nothingness or an annihilating void but the of all our hidden, obscured,
unknown or unrealized potentialities of being – in contract to the actualities
of our being and existence that belong to the realm of being (Sat)
RAJAS, RED – the essentially Rajasic
dimension of pure awareness is the active COMING- TO-BE or BECOMING of our
potentialities of being out of the realm of NON – BEING that is Tamas. Out of
pure awareness arises the autonomous power of action and actualization that is
felt is Rajas – the impulse to BE and Become all that we potentially
ARE.SATTVA, WHITE – the essentially Sattvic dimension of pure awareness is the
experience of awareness as an affirmation of BEING (Sat), feelings one’s very
being brought to light, illuminated by, reflecting and radiating the light of
pure awareness. NIRGUNA, COLOURLESS – The Nirgunic dimension of is the
experience of its pure, colorless, transcendent and translucent light. Whereas
through Tamas, awareness is experienced as NON-BEING, through Rajas as BECOMING
or COMING TO BE and through Sattva as BEING, as Nirguna it is experienced as
that light that first brings all beings to light from the darkness of NON-BEING
– letting them both BE (Sattva) and BECOME (Rajas) all that they potentially
are (Tamas). Sri Krishna said from the Bhagvad Gita “Sattva or Goodness, Rajas
or Activity and Tamas or Inertia; these three gunas of mind bind the
imperishable soul to the body”. The culture of Bharat says: Sathyam Bruyath,
Priyam Bruyath, and Na Bruyath Sathyamapriyam (Speak the truth, speak sweetly
and softly and never utter truth in an unpalatable way).
· Sathyam Bruyath is the Moral value.
· Priyam Bruyath is the social value.
· Na Bruyath Sathyamapriyam is the
spiritual value.
So the moral, social and spiritual
values are all contained in the above statement. People should understand that
god is their best friend. All the worldly friends are lured by your position
and power. Once your position and power has gone, gone are your friends too.
God is the only friend in the real sense of the term. The principle of Atma,
which reveals the secrets of your mind, is your true Guru. Guru is one who is
formless and beyond all attributes.
Gurur-Brahma Gurur-Vishnu Gurur-Devo
Maheswara,
Guru Sakshath Parm Brahma Thasmai
Sri GFurave Namah.
Consider god as your mother, father,
friend and everything. Take god as your guru, follow him and merge in him. If
you have god as your guru, you can achieve everything in life.The Tamasic
approach shows a fear of losing from the outset, while the Sattvic approach is based
in trust: trust in oneself, trust in the other and trust in the process of
communication.
We have written about the 3 Gunas as Satvic,
Rajasic and Tamasic. Many have taken a
simplistic view point of this without understanding the
inner meaning. Even Satvic
Qualities have limitations. They are not the ultimate.
References
- Dr. B. K. Chaturvedi (2010) Mahabharata, Diamond Pocket Books Pvt.Ltd, New Delhi.
- Dr. P. Subbarao (2009) Essential of Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai.
- K. Aswathappa (2009) Organizational Behavior, Himalaya Publishing house, Mumbai.
- Satish Kumar (2007) Sattvik Qualities, Green Books Ltd, and Aswamedha Parva Sections from Mahabharata
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