Gita Acharan

  K rishna explained about the three gunas or characters of nature viz. satva , rajo and tamo on various occasions in the Bhagavad Gita. He declares that no living being on earth or the higher celestial abodes of this material realm are free from the influence of these three gunas (18.40). This implies that at any given point of time we are under the influence of one guna or another. Krishna said that karmas (actions) in all situations are performed by the gunas ; one who is deluded by ahankaar thinks ‘I am karta (doer)’ (3.27-3.29). The wise who understand this are not attached. The gunas have the subtle power to hypnotize us and under their influence we are attached to the functions of gunas . In chapters seventeen and eighteen, some functions of gunas like worship, food, yajna , tapah (of body, speech and mind), daan (charity), knowledge, karma , karta , intellect, dhruti (fortitude) and happiness, were explained. Krishna offers a path forward and encouraged us to t...

  I n our lives, we constantly experience the polarities of happiness ( sukh ) and sadness ( dukh ). Krishna explained that when senses meet sense-objects, polarities of sukh-dukh are generated (2.14). Praise brings happiness, while criticism causes sorrow, even though both are merely phenomena of words meeting the ears. Life, therefore, is a continuous interplay of senses and sense-objects, implying that polarities of sukh and dukh are an unavoidable human condition. Krishna categorizes happiness into three types, each arising from one of the three gunas (18.36). He says, “That which is like poison in the beginning and nectar in the end is declared satvik happiness. It is a virtue born from the clarity of one’s intellect” (18.37). Thus, satvik happiness is dhyan (meditation) for the mind and physical exercise for the body where we find it difficult to begin and maintain regularly yet deeply rewarding over time in form of mental peace and physical wellbeing. Krishna says...

  A fter explaining the threefold nature of karta and karma , Krishna explains that buddhi (intellect) and dhruti (fortitude or courage) are also threefold as per gunas (18.29). He says, “The intellect is said to be satvik when it understands what is desireful action and renunciation, what is duty and what is not, fear and fearless, bondage and liberation (18.30). The intellect is rajasik when it is confused between dharma (righteousness) and adharma (unrighteousness), and cannot distinguish between kaaryam (dutiful action) and akaaryam (undutiful action) (18.31). That intellect is said to be tamasik which is enveloped in darkness, imagines adharma to be dharma and looks upon all things in a perverted way” (18.32). The intellect varies from person to person, or even changes within the same person over time. These verses clarify that our intellect manifests under the influence of the prevailing guna. Clarity is the hallmark of satva while confusion is the hallmark of ...