242. All are influenced by gunas

 

Krishna 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 transcend these gunas to be guna-atheeth who are alike in happiness and distress; who are established in the self; remain the same amidst pleasant and unpleasant events; accept both criticism and praise with equanimity; remain the same in respect and insult; treat both friend and foe alike; and abandon all delusions of karta (14.24-14.25).

While the nature of karta depends on the guna under whose influence the karta is at a given point of time, Krishna explained that the guna-atheeth abandons the delusion of karta altogether. Similarly, in the context of sukh (happiness), the types of happiness vary depending on the guna. But for a guna-atheeth, there is no preference for a particular sukh nor resistance to any dukh. In a nutshell, it is realising that life is an interplay of gunas and remain a witness to this interplay.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

261. Shed the Ahankaar

Image
  K rishna says, “Abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins, grieve not” (18.66). While verse 2.14 can be taken as the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna advises us to ignore the transient pleasure-pain polarities which are caused when senses meet sense-objects, the verse 18.66 can be considered as the end of the Gita. Krishna uses the word ‘ dharma’ , and he is certainly not referring to religion, faith, or righteousness, as each of these carries different meanings for different people. Bhagavad Gita is not a book of religion but of natural principles that govern our lives. On the other hand, a lot of clarity comes if we take the paradigm or subjective reality as the meaning of dharma . Paradigm is the combination of our opinions, imaginations and understandings about the things around us or the way things are from our point of view. It is like the partial understanding formed about an elephant by a blind person by touching only ...
Read more

258. Sins and Suffering

Image
  O ne of the common fears of humanity is about committing sins ( paap ). Every culture has evolved around the concept of sin, and the common belief is that all our suffering is due to sins committed in this life or previous ones. Religions thrive on our guilt of committing sins. Even Arjuna’s despondency is because of his belief that he will incur sin by slaying his elders, teachers and relatives. That’s why Krishna elaborates on this issue on various occasions in the Bhagavad Gita. Firstly, Paramatma takes no account of anyone’s virtue or sin. It is the problem of human beings who are deluded as their knowledge is covered by moha (delusion or ignorance) (5.15). Secondly, one hoping for nothing, with a controlled mind and body, doing mere bodily actions, incurs no sin (4.21). Even if we are the most sinful of sinners, we shall safely cross the sea of sin by the raft of wisdom (4.36). The wisdom is realising ‘That’ by which we will see all beings in the self (4.35). Thirdly, for ...
Read more

259. Tapasya with Devotion

Image
  K rishna says, “This (the Gita) is never to be spoken by you to those who are not austere ( a-tapaskaya ) or to those who are not devoted ( a-bhaktaya ). It should also not be spoken to those who are averse to listening and especially not to those who cavil at Me” (18.67). The spiritual journey toward unconditional love and eternal joy is both adventurous and, at times, lonely. In this path we are expected to shed all the beliefs we gathered in our lives. We are also expected to shed the sense of attachment to our physical possessions, feelings and relationships. That’s why very few reach the destination (7.3). Hence, one should pursue it like tapasya with devotion. On the contrary, when it is pursued out of curiosity, it leads to the illusion of knowledge which increases ahankaar . Coming as ‘the existence’, Krishna mentioned about not caviling at Him. It is the path of accepting and embracing all the diverse and seemingly contradictory aspects of existence without any cavil, w...
Read more