THREE GUNAS OF NATURE

[gokulkr]

THREE GUNAS OF NATURE

 

The Supreme Lord said: I shall further explain to you that supreme

knowledge, the best of all knowledge, knowing that all the sages

have attained supreme perfection after this life. (14.01)

 

Those who have taken refuge in this knowledge attain unity with Me,

and are neither born at the time of creation nor afflicted at the

time of dissolution. (14.02)

 

O Arjuna, My Prakriti (or the material nature) is the womb wherein

I place the seed (of spirit or Purusha) from which all beings are

born. (See also 9.10) (14.03)

 

Whatever forms are produced in all different wombs, O Arjuna, the

great Prakriti is their (body-giving) mother, and the Purusha is

the (seed or life-giving) father. (14.04)

 

Sattva or goodness, Rajas or activity, and Tamas or inertia; these

three Gunas (or states) of mind (or Prakriti) bind the imperishable

soul to the body, O Arjuna. (14.05)

 

Of these, Sattva, being calm, is illuminating and ethical. It

fetters the embodied being, the Jeevaatma or Purusha, by attachment

to happiness and knowledge, O Arjuna. (14.06)

 

O Arjuna, know that Rajas is characterized by intense (selfish)

activity and is born of desire and attachment. It binds the Jeeva

by attachment to the fruits of work. (14.07)

 

Know, O Arjuna, that Tamas, the deluder of Jeeva, is born of

inertia. It binds by ignorance, laziness, and (excessive) sleep.

(14.08)

 

O Arjuna, Sattva attaches one to happiness, Rajas to action, and

Tamas to ignorance by covering the knowledge. (14.09)

 

Sattva dominates by suppressing Rajas and Tamas; Rajas dominates by

suppressing Sattva and Tamas; and Tamas dominates by suppressing

Sattva and Rajas, O Arjuna. (14.10)

 

When the lamp of knowledge shines through all the (nine) gates of

the body, then it should be known that Sattva is predominant.

(14.11)

 

Greed, activity, restlessness, passion, and undertaking of

(selfish) works arise when Rajas is predominant, O Arjuna. (14.12)

 

Ignorance, inactivity, carelessness, and delusion arise when Tamas

is predominant, O Arjuna. (14.13)

 

One who dies during the dominance of Sattva goes to heaven, the

pure world of the knowers of Supreme. (14.14)

 

When one dies during the dominance of Rajas, one is reborn as

attached to action (or the utilitarian type); and dying in Tamas,

one is reborn as ignorant (or lower creatures). (14.15)

 

The fruit of good action is said to be Saattvika and pure, the

fruit of Raajasika action is pain, and the fruit of Taamasika

action is ignorance. (14.16)

 

Knowledge arises from Sattva; desires arise from Rajas; and

negligence, delusion, and ignorance arise from Tamas. (14.17)

 

Those who are established in Sattva go to heaven; Raajasika persons

are reborn in the mortal world; and the Taamasika persons, abiding

in the lowest Guna, go to hell (or born as lower creatures).

(14.18)

 

When visionaries perceive no doer other than the Gunas (or the

power of Brahman), and know That which is above and beyond the

Gunas; then they attain nirvana. (See also 3.27, 5.09, and 13.29)

(14.19)

 

When one transcends (or rises above) the three Gunas that originate

in the mind; one is freed from birth, old age, disease, and death;

and attains nirvana. (14.20)

 

Arjuna said: What are the characteristics of those who have

transcended the three Gunas, and what is their conduct? How does

one transcend these three Gunas, O Lord Krishna? (14.21)

 

The Supreme Lord said: One who neither hates the presence of

enlightenment, activity, and delusion nor desires for them when

they are absent; and (14.22)

 

The one who remains like a witness; who is not moved by the Gunas,

thinking that the Gunas only are operating; who stands firm and

does not waver; and (14.23)

 

The one who depends on the Lord and is indifferent to pain and

pleasure; to whom a clod, a stone, and gold are alike; to whom the

dear and the unfriendly are alike; who is of firm mind; who is calm

in censure and in praise; and (14.24)

 

The one who is indifferent to honor and disgrace; who is the same

to friend and foe; who has renounced the sense of doership; is said

to have transcended the Gunas. (14.25)

 

The one who offers service to Me with love and unswerving devotion

transcends Gunas, and becomes fit for realizing Brahman. (See also

7.14 and 15.19) (14.26)

 

Because, I am the abode of the immortal and eternal Brahman, of

everlasting Dharma, and of the absolute bliss. (14.27)