In the Chapter Fourteen of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna and Arjuna discuss the importance of the three gunas. These gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas can be most easily described as three different types of characteristics a person can have. According to Swami Nikhilananda’s translation of the Bhagavad Gita, Sattva is defined as ‘being stainless… luminous and healthful. It binds… by creating attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge.’ Rajas, on the other hand, ‘is the essence of passion and the cause of thirst and attachment. It binds fast…by attachment to action. Thirdly, Tamas is ‘born of ignorance and … deludes all embodied creatures. It binds by inadvertence, indolence and sleep.’
Although one may feel that he or she must choose only one guna and live life along the bounds set by one’s chosen guna, this may not the best idea. Pure sattva results in the attainment of knowledge, but lacks in action and rest. Pure action without aim or rest can prove to have detrimental results, for it is mere action without any vision or thought. On the other hand, pure rest without aim and action cant result a very sluggish lifestyle. What we must do is understand that we need a little of all three gunas to help us become whole. The combination of these gunas can help us define our everyday actions and thoughts. A Sattvik-Rajasik combination wherein Rajas is dominated by Sattva can be most analogous to action that helps others (i.e. volunteering or teaching). A Tamasik-Rajasik combination can be very dangerous as this involves actions performed without care for the consequences. A Satvik-Tamasik combination wherein Tamas is dominated by Sattva can be represented by sleep that gives the body rest and rejuvenates the body. Generally a combination that is dominated by Sattva proves to be helpful for the person. As Krishna states in slokas fourteen and fifteen of Chapter Fourteen:
“If the embodied soul meets with death when sattva prevails, it goes to the spotless realms of those who know the Highest. If the embodied soul meets with death when rajas prevails, it is reborn among those who are attached to action; and if it meets with death when tamas prevails, it is born in the wombs of creatures devoid of reason.”
We should be able to discriminate among the gunas and live by the proper combination of the gunas in order to grow spiritually as well as help those around us.
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I guess I’m slightly confused on the definition of each Guna. I was under the impression that Satva implied moderation and balance: therefore, a person would pursue both action and rest in moderation. Ideally, don’t we strive for Satvik characteristics rather than a combination? It seems that Krishna explains consequences in terms of which Guna dominates (rather than which single category a person falls into) because it is near impossible for a human being to have only Satvik qualities.
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