Sattwa, rajas and tamas, these gunas born of Prakriti firmly bind the imperishable soul to the body Arjuna. – 14:5
Krishna says that the qualities of Sattwa, rajas and tamas are the three gunas which come forth from Prakriti and bind the immortal spirit to this body, the realm of Prakriti. One must transcend the gunas in order to become free, to experience moksha, samadhi or nirvana and again experience the pure, natural spirit.
Of these, Sattwa being stainless, luminous and flawless binds through self-identification with happiness and wisdom, Arjuna. – 14:6
The nature of Sattwa is light and knowledge. It is free from every kind of vikara (impurities) which means that are no evolution of Sattwa. This is because Sattwa is the pure state which contains both cause and effect. When Sattwa is associated with the body, with an individual being, there is an urge to seek the pleasant and there is no urge to seek knowledge. Therefore, you can say that the predominance of Sattwa is responsible for the transformation of consciousness from gross to sublime.
Know the nature of rajas to be passion, the source of extreme desire and attachment. Arjuna, it binds the embodied one through attachment to action. – 14:7
The nature of rajas is attraction born out of attachment and desire. Also, desire gives birth to rajo guna. Rajo Guna binds one with action and the fruits of the action. It is a circular process. Rajo Guna is responsible for the cycle of desire, action, the result of action and again desire. When your own individual self is the motivating factor for your achievement and attainments, no one else is considered, then rajo guna is dominant.
Know tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings. It binds through carelessness, laziness and sleep Arjuna. – 14:8
It is the tamo guna which binds the self to the body by identifying with the body due to ignorance. Engaging in futile activities of the senses, inertia, laziness, withdrawing into one’s personal shell and sleeping all the time, are the indications of tamo guna. When you are not able to discriminate between right and wrong and indulge in fantasy than you are in state of tamo guna.
So how do we evolve?
The three gunas bind a person in the embodied form. You recognize your baser nature, awaken the faculty of discrimination, gain knowledge and live by that knowledge.
- Recognise Tamo Guna. How? When you regress into a lower and animal mentality.
- Recognise Rajo Guna. How? When you are in the pursuit of fulfilling your aspirations and then you attain and maintain the human consciousness.
- Recognize Sattwa Guna. How? When you engage in transforming yourself from the gross to sublime.
None of this is easy. Dear ones, when we start practicing swadhyaya (self-study), self-awareness and atmabhava we are on the Sattwic path.
Aim Hrim Klim
Picture by Arnab Dutta – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link