Bhagwad Gita - Post 172

CHAPTER 14

THE YOGA OF THE DIVISION OF THE THREE GUNAS

Knowledge of the three cosmic qualities or Gunas, namely, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas is now given through this discourse. 

The knowledge of these three Gunas, which hold the entire universe and all creatures under their sway, is of vital importance to each and everyone for their progress and happiness in life. 

Without this knowledge one will be forever bound by sorrow. In this knowledge we have the secret of success in worldly life as well as in spiritual life. Therefore, one should acquire this precious knowledge.

Lord Krishna reveals that these three qualities compose the Cosmic Nature. This Cosmic Nature is the primal source and origin of the entire creation and all things in it. Hence all things created are subject to their influence and irresistible power. 

The individual soul also is bound to the body by these three qualities present in Cosmic Nature. The Supreme Being brings about creation through the help of His Prakriti (Nature) endowed with these threefold qualities.

The highest of the three qualities is Sattwa. It is pure. It brings about happiness, wisdom and also illumination. 

The second quality of Rajas gives rise to passion manifested by intense attachment and greed. It causes sorrow and suffering. 

The third, termed Tamas, is the worst of all. It arises due to ignorance and results in darkness, lethargy and delusion.

Krishna asks us to diligently endeavor to cast out Tamas from our nature. We should control and master Rajas, and by holding it in check, wisely divert its power towards good kinds of activities. 

Sattwa should be carefully cultivated, developed and conserved in order to enable us to attain immortality. 

Lord Krishna teaches us this important subject in this discourse from the ninth to the eighteenth verse. He declares that one who rises beyond all the three Gunas through spiritual practices, becomes free from birth, death, old age and sorrow, and enjoys immortality.

In reply to a question from Arjuna, the blessed Lord describes the marks of one who has risen above the three Gunas. 

He states that if one constantly worships Him with exclusive devotion one will attain the highest divine experience and supreme peace and blessedness.

Krishna gives more details about the nature of the three gunas. Attachment to any one of the gunas will hold a person back, keeping them in the cycle of death and rebirth. 

However, the gunas of Rajas and Tamas are particularly detrimental to a person's process of enlightenment. 

Although Sattwa seems desirable, when it is held as an attachment it can keep one bound. For example, over attachment to the pursuit of knowledge or joy (without striving for inner experience of Knowledge gained)  can keep a person embodied. 

Conversely, Sattwa without attachment can help a person leave the cycle of death and rebirth. 

Krishna names Sattwa as the "ruling trait" of a person who is on the path of understanding and knowledge. 

The "light of knowledge shines forth / through all the gates of the body" in these people. This is one way such a person can be recognized and set apart from those still ruled primarily by Rajas or Tamas.

Many things can affect the rebirth of a person. The ruling guna at the time of death will determine the situation a person will experience when reborn into the next life. 

Those who die while ruled by Rajas are born to people who are attached to action, whereas those who die while ruled by Tamas are born to people who are deluded. 

This distinction could imply that a person who has led a good life could be reborn into a poor incarnation if they die in a state of anger. 

Although a person is ruled primarily by one guna or another, it is possible for that person to move back and forth between secondary gunas over the course of a lifetime.

The realized sage, of course, goes beyond all these qualities, for, although it is Sattwa that enables him to reach God, even this quality will bind him if he is attached to it.

The aspirant should know the symptoms and signs of their presence in his personality and acquire a knowledge of their subtle workings. Then only can he maintain an unhampered and smooth progress in all activities of his life, both secular as well as spiritual. 

Love.