The word 'Guna' in Sanskrit means "quality or peculiarity or attribute or property".
In our earlier blogs, we talked about the manifestation of Prakruthi and soul. These blogs were titled as the construct of the humans (https://www.mayoan.com/post/11-the-construct-of-a-human) and as the construct of the universe (please refer https://www.mayoan.com/post/8-the-construct-of-the-universe-part-1 and https://www.mayoan.com/post/10-the-construct-of-the-universe-part-2).
In the previous blogs, we understood how tanmatras (rudimentary, undifferentiated, subtle elements) exist and how jnanendriyas (sensory organs) and karmendriyas (action organs) generate/interpret tanmatras and that some special senses can exist in other species of this universe sensing tanmatras that, we as humans, may not know yet !
The wholesome experience of the above in the context of Prakruthi and soul can be graded into 3 attributes or gunas. In some ancient Sanskrit texts these 3 gunas are called as -
Sattva Guna
Rajo Guna and
Tamasic (Tamas) Guna
Please note that under different philosophical systems of India, several other concepts are described as Gunas. But, in this blog, I am only referring to the above 3 - so called fundamental - attributes.
Though I tend to quickly equate it to the good, the bad and the ugly (!!) , I resist the temptation and try to analyse it further.
For that matter, all 3 exist in all forms of the Prakruthi and soul. It is an amalgamation of all 3 attributes. Let us consider some raw examples to understand this -
Food can be organic (sattva), spicy (rajas) or putrefied (tamas)
Music can be peaceful (sattva), energetic (rajas) or screeching (tamas)
State of mind for a person can be balanced (sattva), aggressive (rajas) or sad (tamas)
A painting can be euphoric (sattva), or about a war (rajas) or something macabre (tamas)
etc.,
In the above examples, we saw how subjective these qualities can be with respect to a person! I have liberally used a few adjectives (An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.) and for some other person, the choice of adjectives can vary !
But the essence is to convey the property that we feel when we act/perceive in the Prakruthi as part of our living - in terms of sattva, rajas and tamas gunas.
I urge the reader to consider the paragraph - "Samkhya school of Hinduism" in the wiki site for Guna (given in reference section below).
It helps if we equate Sattva with balance, harmony, goodness, purity etc.,
Similarly, it helps if we equate Rajas with passion, activity, neither good not bad, egoism etc.,
Likewise, it helps if we equate tamas with imbalance, chaos, anxiety, impurity, delusion etc.,
Please consider the scenario when 2 kings are at war - the winning king may be perceived to be in rajasic state and the losing king may be perceived to be in tamasic state. We cannot generalize that war is a rajasic activity ! But a neutral person observing the war can consider that act as rajasic or tamasic !!
And then there are these explicit conditions too:
Putrefied food is tamasic for humans
Person under the influence of drugs/intoxicants are said to be in tamasic state
A spiritual guru in a deep state meditation is said to be in sattvic state
A sprinter/runner is said to be in a rajasic state
Hence we can infer that, in anything we do or perceive , using our karmendriyas and jnanendriyas, all these 3 gunas keep appearing in a intertwined state. An advanced soul will aim to maximize the sattvic experiences while an ignorant soul may thrash about in a sea of rajas and tamasic experiences with little or no sattvic experiences and look forward to the help and guidance from the sattvic souls (such as Gurus, Acharyas and Masters) for balance, peace and liberation (nirvana). Some times this travel can be self-guided too.
A reference to Bhagavad Gita is given in the below wiki site, which I faithfully reproduce :
Action that is virtuous, thought through, free from attachment, and without craving for results is considered Sattvic; Action that is driven purely by craving for pleasure, selfishness and much effort is Rajasic; Action that is undertaken because of delusion, disregarding consequences, without considering loss or injury to others or self, is called Tamasic.
— Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, verses 23–25
The above meaning, to me , is very profound ! Please refer to the 2nd link given below for the actual script and translation.
In another way of interpretation, as per the wiki site on Guna, the following is also a profound statement:
The balance of Gunas of everything and everyone can change and does. However, change in one quality faces inertia from other two qualities in Indian worldview. Change needs internal or external influence or reinforcement, as knowledge and force to transform. The force to change comes from the Rajas Guna, the Sattva Guna empowers one towards harmonious and constructive change, while Tamas Guna checks or retards the process.
References: