Satvam, Rajas and Tamas

Gita essays – 24

While discussing Purusha-Prakrithi Jnanam in chapter 13, Lord Krishna made four points; 1) “Whatever being, moving or stationary, is born --- know that to be out of the union of Purusha (Khṣetrajna) and Prakrithi (Kshetram); 2)  Purusha and Prakrithi are both without beginning and all forms and gunas are born of Prakriti; 3) Purusha seated in Prakriti, seemingly experiences the qualities (gunas) born of Prakriti. It is attachment to the gunas that is the cause of birth in good and evil wombs; 4) He who thus knows the Purusha and Prakriti along with the gunas is not born again. In chapter 14, where Lord discusses mainly the three gunas, Satvam, Rajas and Tamas that constitute Prakrithi, Lord starts with the the glorification of Athma Jnanam (Purusha-Prakrithi viveka) praising it as an important knowledge that is worth repetition since those attaining this wisdom and being established in it will not ever be born again after they shed their mortal coil in death. He also restates the point no.1 referred to earlier from a different angle. He presents Purusha-the Nirguna, Nirvikara, Chetana, Sathya tatvam and Prakrithi-the Saguna, Savikara, Achetana. Mithya tatvam symbolically as the father-principle and mother-principle bestowing on every created being Conscious and material aspects representing Purusha and Prakrithi respectively.  The three gunas in varying proportions in each created being contribute to the variety in creation.

After the brief introduction Lord analyses the three gunas under four heads:

1)    Chief characteristics of each guna and the nature of their bondage

2)    Indications that reveal the predominance of each guna (lingam)

3)    Their effect on life

4)    Effect after death

This knowledge of the gunas can be used to transcend them when that Jnanam will liberate one from samsara, while alive and from the cycle of birth and death, on death.  So let us see the details as revealed by the Lord in these verses.

The characteristics of Satva guna is descrbed in the verse 14-6: “O Arjuna, Satva, is bright and harmless due to its purity, and binds by causing attachment to knowledge and to happiness”.  Satva Guna is marked by brightness and calmness.  A calm and bright mind can learn things, absorb knowledge and engage in meditation.  But this too can cause bondage as a Satvic mind seeks always seclusion and a tranquil environment, free from noise pollution.  As the external circumstances are not under one’s control, one’s longing for quietude and solitude, causing restlessness in noisy crowded environs, becomes a bondage.  Further, the knowledge that it seeks is mainly worldly knowledge which is not totally fulfilling and satisfying however much one acquires it.

Rajo guna is described in the next verse (14-7): “O Arjuna, know Rajas to be of the nature of passion, born of thirst (desire for sensual enjoyment) and attachment and binds the embodied one through attachment to action”.  Rajo Guna is of the nature of attachment and passion; a Rajasic mind is highly extrovert and it always wants to relate with things and people.  This thirst for sense-enjoyment propels one to action and so Rajas is characterised by activity. A Rajasic mind seeks always company and action and will go mad in seclusion.  As Rajasic mind is of competitive nature, it is always anxious and restless.  This restlessness and longing for activity and sense-enjoyment is the cause for samsara and samsara is bondage

Tamo guna is described in next verse (14-8): “O Arjuna, understand Tamas as born of ignorance and as the deluder of all beings. It binds by (causing) negligence, indolence, and sleep”.  Under the influence of Tamo guna one’s capacity for discrimination gets veiled and the person suffers from Ajjnanam and delusion.  It is just the antithesis of Rajo guna in that it dislikes activity and takes pleasure in laziness and lethargy; physical, mental and intellectual.  So the person’s attention span and absorption capacity are at a low level and he is ignorant or uncaring for the higher purposes of life.

Lord Krishna is non-judgemental as He outlines the characteristics, but we can grade them depending on their positive influence on one’s mental personality, ranking Satva that stands for brightness and knowledge as highest and Tamas that stands for lethargy and ignorance as lowest. We can also define them, in short, based on the aptitude of the person for activity at the time of predominance of the guna as non-activity, activity and inactivity.  The three gunas compete among themselves for supremacy and try to dominate overpowering the other two. Satva predominates overpowering Rajas and Tamas; Rajas predominates overpowering Satva and Tamas and Tamas predominates overpowering Satva and Rajas (14-10).

Lord Krishna gives also the indicators that reveal which is the predominant guna at any moment. When Satva is predominant all the jnanendriyas radiate the light of knowledge (14-11). This state of light comes from inner peace and tranquillity that Satva pradhana person enjoys and of his desire for knowledge. When Rajas is predominant, greed and activity, the undertaking of worldly actions with a selfish motive and longing for enjoyment are on the rise. (14-12).  Rajas pradhana people are great achievers and material progress is due to them, no doubt, but in their quest for success they tend to be impatient and intolerant of persons who do not measure up to their standard. They are restless in their longing for things not yet acquired and for tasks not yet accomplished.  Selfish interests and desires mark their activity.  When Tamas is predominant, darkness, inertia, miscomprehension, delusion flourishes (14-13). Tamas pradhana person has no interest in learning and doing with the result he is slow to act and understand.  Even where he acts, action is liable to suffer due to negligence and misunderstanding. In short, when one’s study and contemplation increases and when one becomes more calm and reflective we can say then Satva guna is predominant.  When activity increases and one becomes more competitive, selfish, aggressive and egoistic, Rajo guna is the dominant guna then, we can conclude. When one becomes lazy, lethargic and procrastinating spending more time in sleep and idleness, one is under the influence of Tamo guna, we can infer.

When Satva guna increases, knowledge and contemplation increases and so the fruit of Satvic action is stated as Punya..  When Rajo guna increases activity and ambition increases generating tension, anxiety, worry and sorrow and so the fruit of Rajasic action is termed as sorrow.   When Tamo guna increases sleep, negligence, idleness and dullness increases and so the fruit of Tamasic action is dubbed as ignorance.  So Lord tells in verse 16 & 17; “The result of Satvic action is pure puṇya; the result of Rajasic (action) is sorrow; whereas the result of Tamasic (action) is ignorance.” (14-16). “Knowledge is born out of Satva; greed is born out of Rajas; negligence and delusion along with ignorance are born out of Tamas.” (14-17).  

Lord Krishna goes on to say that gunas not only influence this life but they also have an impact on next life as well. When one is Satva pradhana at the time of death, then he will go to the higher lokas where he enjoys greater happiness.  When he is reborn he is born in a pious family. If one is Rajas pradhana at the time of death, he goes to the middle worlds and takes birth in the family of those who are attached to action.  If Tamas is predominant at the time of death, one goes to the lower worlds and is reborn in the family of dull and ignorant or even goes down the order of evolution being born in the animal kingdom. 

Lord Krishna talks more on the topic of classification of various subjects like Yajna, Dhana, Tapas, food, happiness etc. under the three gunas in the chapters 17 & 18 to enable one to shape one’s life on Satvic path, and eschew Tamasic ways in life.  One can make use of this knowledge of the gunas to change oneself to a Satva pradhana person as an initial step to transcend the gunas and attain Jivan Mukthi while living and Videha Mukthi at death, as a Gunatheetha, the person who has transcended the gunas, of whom Lord Krishna talks about in the rest of this chapter. 

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Purusha-Prakrithi Jnanam

Gita essays – 23

Arjuna wanted to know from Lord Krishna about the six technical terms used in Vedanta; Kshertam, Kshetrajna, Jnanam, Jneyam, Prakrithi and Purusha. After explaining the first four terms Lord starts talking about Prakrithi and Purusha from verse 20 of chapter 13.  Lord has already explained in Chapter7 (Gita essays-11) the two aspects of His nature as Brahman; Para prakrithi, the higher principle and Apara prakrithi the lower principle and both of them are beginningless and eternal.  He has also further revealed that the changing matter principle constitutes the Apara prakrithi and the changeless Consciousness principle the Para prakrithi.  Now in this chapter Lord is talking about Apara prakrithi as Prakrithi and Para prakrithi as Purusha,  So from this we can see that both Purusha and Prakrithi are beginningless and also that both of them together constitute the cause of the universe.

Everything in the creation is born out of Prakr̥thi and this includes the body, mind complex also.  Not only the body- mind complex but also all the conditions of the body-mind complex, favourable and unfavourable like pleasure and pain, form part of the Prakrithi.  Purusha, as the unchanging witness lending sentiency to the body-mind complex, appears to experience all the conditions of body-mind complex as a silent witness associated with the body-mind complex. So Lord explains in verse 23 “Purusha dwelling in the body is the same as Supreme. He is also called as the Witness, the Approver, the Supporter, the Experiencer (as the embodied Purusha), the great Lord and the Supreme Self”.  Purusha, as Supreme is everywhere including every Prakrithi enclosure of body.  We can see from this that Purusha is one and changeless, Prakrithi is many and changing; Purusha is attributeless. Prakrithi is with attributes; Purusha is beyond the influence of three Gunas, Satvam, Rajas and Tamas, Prakrithi functions under the influence of the three Gunas. 

Lord has pointed out earlier in verse 2 & 3, “This body is termed as Kshetra  and ---------- Know Myself as Kshetrajna in all Kshetras”   From this we can see that both Purusha and Kshetrajna are synonyms and refer to Athma and both  Prakrithi and Kshetra are synonyms and refer to anathma.  Lord has also stated earlier in verse 3 “O Arjuna! Knowledge of both the Kshetra(Prakrithi) and the Kshetrjna(Purusha) is considered by Me to be the Real knowledge”. Under Jnanam Lord had earlier discussed only the moral qualities and virtues that prepare the mind for  assimilating the Jnanam.  And now Lord gives more of the knowledge of Kshetram (Prakrithi) and Kshtrajna (Purusha) and the benefit of this Jnanam, which He calls Real knowledge..

In verse 27 Lord states “Whatever being, moving or stationary, is born --- know that to be out of the union of Kṣhetram (Prakrithi) and Khṣetrajna (Purusha), Oh, Arjuna !”

The union between the Prakrithi and Purusha is not of any physical kind or of any material nature but it is one of superimposition, called Adhyasa.  In every superimposition a delusion is recognized upon the substratum just like a ghost on the post where the non-existent ghost comes into existence and the existing post gives place to non-existent ghost.  Here the Prakrithi which has no independent existence and so mithya is superimposed on Purusha, Pure consciousness, which only has independent existence and is Satyam. This relationship conjures up the phenomenon of the material world, consisting of the moving and non-moving and also the insentient body being mistaken for the sentient Self and vice versa. This confusion is cleared when the illusion disappears due to Jnanam, the knowledge of Purusha and Prakrithi. So Lord states in the next verse, verse 28, “He who sees the supreme Lord who dwells alike in all beings and who is imperishable as the unperishing within the perishing, (alone really) sees”.

Samsara and resultant cycle of birth and death occurs due to ignorance of Real knowledge (Jnanam).  Lord calls this cycle as destroying Self by self and remarks that this Real knowledge, Jnanam, frees one from this cycle.  Jnanam consists of seeing that all actions are performed by Prakrithi alone and Purusha is actionless and that  Purusha is only the witness, not the doer; the spectator, not the actor.  This Jnanam is complete when one understands that the multiplicity of names and forms arise from the Purusha only and spread to become the Universe. In short as Kaivalya Upanishad (1-19) says “In me alone everything is born; in me does everything rest; and in me is everthing dissolved.  I am that Brahman (Purusha) secondless.”  The same is echoed in the Chandogya Upanishad (VII.xxvi.1) “From the Self (Purusha) is life, from the Self is desire, from the Self is love, from the Self is akasa, from the Self is light, from the Self are the waters --------”. When the variety of nature and its development are traced to the Eternal One, one assumes eternity. He realizes the all pervading nature of the Self, as the cause of all limitation has been destroyed by the knowledge of unity with Brahman and he becomes a Jivanmuktha.

Lord also states in verse 32 “Being birthless and attributeless, this supreme Self is changeless. Though dwelling in the body, it neither acts nor is affected.”  In next two verses 33 & 34, Lord compares Purusha with space and sun to illustrate the point that Purusha is one only and is unaffected by the activities of Prakrithi though it is closely associated with it as Self in the body. “Just as the all pervading space is not affected due to its subtlety, so also, the Self (Purusha), which is present in everybody (Prakrithi), is not affected.  (13-33).   “Just as one Sun illumines the entire world, so also does the Kshetrajna (Purusha) illumines the entire Kṣhetraṁ (Prakrithi), O Arjuna.”  (13-34).

Space is the subtlest of all gross elements and hence pervades everything that is grosser than it. Though everything remain in it, yet nothing that it contains can contaminate it. Brahman, the Supreme Self which is the cause of the very Space is subtler than Space. So Brahman (Purusha) pervades all and nothing pervades It and It is not affected by anything that exists or is happening in the world of plurality. Just like the sun, the Consciousness merely illumines the world of objects, the body, the mind and the intellect. Lighting of the world by the sun is not an activity undertaken by sun as light itself is the very nature of the sun and in its light everything gets illumined. Similarly, the nature of Consciousness is awareness and in Its presence everything becomes known i.e., illumined. The sun illumines everything, good and bad, beautiful and ugly, virtue and vice etc. So too, in our inner life, Consciousness functions through body equipments and illumines them but never gets contaminated by the actions of the body or by the emotions of the mind or by the thoughts of the intellect.

Those who imbibe this Jnanam regarding Purusha and Prakrithi and liberation from Prakrithi, through steadfast and sincere practice of either Jnana Yoga or Dhyana Yoga or Karma Yoga or Bhakthi Yoga, attain the Supreme, assures the Lord before discussing this Jnanam. 

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Desire and its control

Gita essays – 4 

Lord Krishna observed in His concluding remarks on karma yoga  that one who follows karma-yoga attains spiritual success and one who does not is spiritually lost. Arjuna now has a doubt as to why people do not follow karma yoga even when they know that karma as yoga uplifts leading to liberation, while as mere karma it is binding one to samsara.  So he asks a question generalising this paradox as a problem of choosing between punya and papa. His question runs as (3-36):

अथ केन प्रयुक्तोऽयं पापं चरति पूरुषः। (Atha kena prayukto’yam paapam charati poorushah)
अनिच्छन्नपि वार्ष्णेय बलादिव नियोजितः।। (Anicchann api vaarshneya balaad iva niyojitah)

Oh Krishna! Prompted by what, does a person commit sin, even against his wishes, as though he is constrained by force?

“Everybody knows what is right and what is not right, what is good and what is bad. Yet when it comes to action why some people invariably choose the wrong?”  is the question.  In the context of Lord’s advice the question can be rephrased as “What is the obstacle to the pursuit of karma yoga; in spite of knowing its superiority; what prevents people from following karma yoga?”  Lord Krishna has earlier stated  that raga-dveṣha (likes and dislikes)  born of vasanas (habits) pull a person astray and now Lord amplifies the statement and goes to the roots and says that the preventing factor is kama-krodha (desire-anger) born of the quality of Rajas. When a person's desire is not gratified or thwarted, it turns into anger against those whom he sees as obstacles and so anger can also be classified as a variation of desire. When the quality of Rajas is dominant, a person is constrained to seek satisfaction of his desires and that becomes the dominant motive overriding other considerations.  If the intellect is infected by the virus of desire one loses his discrimination and has no qualms of conscience to make compromises with higher values. Therefore Sri Krishna says desire is the man's greatest enemy on the earth because man commits sin only at the command of desire against his will and better judgment and desires are insatiable and cannot be completely satisfied, as one fulfilled desire fuels another.  One can get rid of this virus only through the constant practice of detachment. 

Desires fall under three categories  Satvic, Rajasic and Tamasic.   Of these Satvic desires veil the discrimination just as smoke envelopes fire.  The veiling is thin and hence it requires only a little effort to remove it, like the rise of the slight wind  dispelling the smoke.  For the Rajasic desires where intellect is covered by desire prompted agitations, the example given by Lord is one of dust on a mirror.  Dust blocks completely the reflection in a mirror and requires more time and effort for removal and it is the same way with the efforts for the removal of the dirt of Rajasic desires from the mind. In the case of a Tamasic desires higher virtues are shut out by baser instincts as in the case of a foetus in the womb covered with amnion fluid.  As the covering can be removed only after lapse of a definite period of time the low desires can be removed only after a longer period of spiritual efforts by the Tamasic person.

Lord also diagnoses senses, mind and intellect as the seat of desires.  The sense organs transmit the stimuli received from the objects of enjoyment to the mind which working in close collaboration with the intellect starts living in the experience of sense enjoyments and nourishes further desires. So the problem is to be tackled at source i.e at the level of senses, mind and intellect itself.  This is done through the control of senses, mind and intellect through sama, dama and viveka. Sama is control of senses. Dama is control of mind and viveka is discrimination. Through sama one takes care to filter the external stimuli that enter the mind.  Through dama one exercises control over the thoughts as thoughts initiate action.  Through viveka one acquires the wisdom that any amount of acquisitions will not add to security and that desire oriented agitations are an impediment to one’s personal spiritual experiences as well as to one’s acquiring spiritual knowledge through the study of scriptures. The last two verses (42&43) that conclude the third chapter of Gita reveal the superiority of Self, Atma, over senses, mind and intellect and the final step in anger-control  as Self-knowledge, Athma Jnanam.

इन्द्रियाणि पराण्याहुरिन्द्रियेभ्यः परं मनः। (Indriyaani paraanyaahur indriyebhyah param manah)
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्यो बुद्धेः परतस्तु सः।। (Manasastu paraa buddhir yo buddheh paratastu sah)

They declare that the senses are superior (to the body); superior to the senses is the mind; superior to the mind is the intellect; and one who is superior even to the intellect is He—the Self.

एवं बुद्धेः परं बुद्ध्वा संस्तभ्यात्मानमात्मना। (Evam buddheh param buddhwaa samstabyaatmaanam aatmanaa)
जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो कामरूपं दुरासदम्।। (Jahi shatrum mahaabaaho kaamaroopam duraasadam)

O Arjuna! Thus, knowing Him who is superior to the intellect and restraining the (lower) self by the (higher) Self, slay thou, the enemy in the form of desire, hard to conquer!

The physical body is gross, external and limited. As compared to this the senses are superior because they are subtler and more internal and have a wider range of activity.  Superior to the senses is the mind as it can direct the function of the senses. Superior to the mind is the intellect because it is endowed with the faculty of discrimination and decisiveness; when the mind doubts, the intellect decides. But the Self is superior even to the intellect because the intellect draws its power to illuminate from the Self alone. The Self is the in-dweller in the body, the witness of the activities of the body, senses, mind and intellect.  So when one gets established in Self-knowledge, one looks upon oneself not as a doer or enjoyer but only as a witness of the play of life and is also free from the influence of gunas.  As a gunatheetha, one is also free from raga-dvesha and kama-krodha.

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