"tri-gUNa": Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

Many well-read friends of mine on several occasions

have come up to me and asked challengingly whether I

believed in the principle or reality of the three

"gUNa" --'sattva', 'rajas' and 'tamas'. "If yes", they

then go on to demand, "what is the objective basis of

your belief?".

 

I often respond to such questions half with amusement

and half with good-natured mischief. I usually say to

them tongue-in-cheek, "Yes, I believe in the reality

of the "tri-guNa". The basis of my belief is the

'Bhagavath-gita'. There are approximately 50 stanzas

in the Gita which are devoted to describing 'sattva',

'rajas' and 'tamas' and how they operate in the world.

I have read those stanzas. I find them to be sound and

objective basis... "objective" enough on which I can

confidently found my belief in the reality of

"tri-gUNa". Have you by any chance read them?"

 

Often my response not only counters but also silences

my interrogators. They await and expect me to launch

into some long-winded (and thoroughly un-convincing)

explanation of how and why I have come to believe in

the concept of "tri-gUna". But the moment they hear me

say blandly that the "Gita" is the fundamental

grounding for my belief, the sheer simplicity of the

response stops them dead in their tracks. It is not

what they anticipate and it effectively takes the wind

out of their sails. They are also silenced by the

response since few amongst them have even a nodding

acquaintance with the 50-odd 'shlOkA-s' of the Gita I

am talking about.

 

Stymied thus by their own ignorance and realizing the

futility of engaging me in further discussion, they

usually decide it is far better to leave me alone.

 

So have I, on many an occasion, managed or manuevered

to escape being dragged, against my wish, into

discussions on probably one of the most talked about

but little understood (I speak for myself here)

principles of Vedantic philosophy -- the "tattva" of

"tri-gUNa".

 

More to follow.

 

Regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

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