The Three guNas

What is guNa?
During the course of hundreds of lives, the actions of the jIva will accumulate certain
tendencies or impulses that make the jIva in the current life to react in a friendly or
unfriendly attitude towards any object or entity (including living beings). Such a
power or characteristic of the jIva expressing as a propensity in the prakriti (nature) is
described as guNa. guNa is therefore, the inborn impulse or propensity of a jIva that
guides its behavior. This inborn propensity is an expression of the past samskAras
(samskAra is the training/experience in life management) of the jIva. Therefore the
propensity fulfilled in this life, forms the seed for the guNa in the next life. The guNa
is dynamic and not static. The discrimination that an individual exhibits may arrest the
negative propensities and promote positive propensities. Even during a life time, gunA
can be managed through knowledge of the shAstras and following the instructions
there in.
gIta says
"satvam rajah-tama iti guNAh prakriti sambhavAh
nibhadnanti mahAbAho dEhE dEhinam avyayAm" - (14.5)
Three guNas - satva, rajas and tamas- born in prakriti, bind the jiVa to the body (we
will see the mechanics of binding shortly). The three guNas are described in gIta (146,8).
Satva is of the nature of pure, divine, shining (or clear) and knowledge. Pure indicates
absence of defects or blemishes. Contemplation, analytical and logical are the
expressions of satva. This expression towards Brahman is divinity. The consequence
of such expressions is knowledge or jnyAna (however, the jIva is yet to experience the
Brahman). The knowledge (worldly or spiritual) creates a sense of happiness in jIva.
The jIva exults in such happiness and knowledge. Such identification with happiness
arrests spiritual progress in the realization of Brahman. The jIva comes back in
another body to continue the spiritual quest - the jIva binding to the body due to satva.
Rajas is of the nature of action driven by passion and attachment. The rajas expresses
as activity to fulfill the desires created by passion and
attachment. The actions lead to fruits of action, which need to be experienced. If all
fruits are not experienced in the current life, jIva comes back in another body to
experience the remaining fruits - jIva binding to the body due to rajas.

Tamas is of the nature of delusion, ignorance, negligence, carelessness and lethargy.

The tamas expresses as inefficiency, excessive sleep, neglect of duty, shirking of work
and idleness. gIta (14-8) says tamas expresses as pramAda - wasteful engagement in
activities prohibited by shAstra and ignorance of the consequences of undesirable
fruits of such engagement. Tamas also binds the jIva to body, either because the jIva
has not experienced the fruits of the current life (prArabda) or to experience the fruits
of wasteful engagement.
Inert objects like rock etc. are predominantly tamas with traces of rajas. Plants though
are also mostly tamas, exhibit higher levels of rajas compared to inert objects.
Animals exhibit a mixture of tamas and rajas. Only humans are endowed with satva
guNa. All humans exhibit a combination of satva, rajas and tamas in varying
proportions from person to person; the proportions will also vary in an individual
from time to time, based on the discrimination exercised in behavior over time.
An infant sleeps for most of the day, indicating predominantly tamas during the
infancy. As the baby grows, it starts to show rajas in increasing proportions. As the
child grows, rajas and satva increase per previous samskAras and activities of current
life.
The three guNas cannot exist in pure form in any entity. Life is not possible in the
pure form of satva, rajas or tamas ( like gold cannot be shaped in pure form; add
impurities like copper to give it a form). Every individual has a certain mixture of
satva, rajas and tamas in different proportions and this proportion varies from time to
time (may be above and below a mean). When tamas predominates, the individual
sleeps, when rajas dominates, he works and when satva predominates, the individual
is calm and happy.
The three guNas do not exist in equal proportions either - Satva dominates to
overpower rajas and tamas; rajas dominates to overpower satva and tamas; and tamas
dominates to overpower satva and rajas (gIta 14-10). As an example, if a thought
occurs in us to do a work, which may not be legal or ethical or in accordance with
dharma, we may set out to do the work, in accordance with rajas. But there comes a
doubt, whether it is the right thing to do (satva domination?); we ponder over it for
some time, then unable to decide, we may put away the thought for a while;
procrastination sets in (tamas predominates). The thought may come back again, when
we may rationalize to do the work (rajas dominates). Finally we may or may not do
the work, depending on which of the guNas has a dominant sway on us. Whatever
action we undertake and how we undertake, the action will add to the data points that
will influence our future propensity. In this way, an individual accumulates thousands
(may be even hundreds of thousands) of data points in each life. These current data
points along with the infinite data points of past lives make a composite of the guNa

for the next life. If we assume a guNa continuum from zero (0) to 100, the
approximate breakdown may be described as follows (an arbitrary division to
illustrate the guNa continuity);
Below 30 - predominantly tamas
30-50 - predominat tamas and rajas, with traces of satva
50-70 - predominantly rajas and sattva, with minor of tamas
Above 70 - increasing satva with lesser rajas and traces of tamas
The goal in each life should be to raise the guNa composite towards satva to make
progress in the spiritual journey. Predominantly endowed with satva at the time of
death, the jIva goes to higher worlds (heaven - comes back to the human birth after
experience of the heaven), while predominantly rajas, the jIva comes back to be born
as a human; predominantly tamas takes the jIva to animal and plant births (again
coming back to human birth after the animal/plant life). Satva, rajas and tamas are all
binding as discussed above. Therefore, in the quest for realization of the Self, the jIva
must go beyond the guNas - guNAtIta (as described in gIta, 14-22,26). guNAtIta is
the term that describes the state in which the jIVa is not under the influence of satva,
rajas and tamas.
We will begin with the study of jagat in the next unit.
Om shAntih, shAntih, shAntih ( Om peace, peace, peace).
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Etymology
Guna appears in many ancient and medieval era Indian texts. Depending on the context, it means: [1]
[2][10]

string or thread, rope, sinew, chord (music, vowel phonology and arts literature) [11][12]

virtue, merit, excellence (dharma and soteriological literature)[10][13]

quality, peculiarity, tendency, attribute, property, species (sastras, sutras, the Epics, food and
analytical literature)[14]

The root and origins

Gua is both a root and a word in Sanskrit language. Its different context-driven meanings are
derived from either the root or the word. In verse VI.36 of Nirukta by Yska, a 1st millennium BC text
on Sanskrit grammar and language that precededPanini, Gua is declared to be derived from
another root Gaa,[15] which means "to count, enumerate".[16] This meaning has led to its use in
speciation, subdivision, classification of anything by peculiarity, attribute or property. This meaning
has also led to its use with prefixes such as Dviguna (twofold), Triguna (threefold) and so on.
In another context, such as phonology, grammar and arts, "Gua-" takes the meaning
of amantrana (, addressing, invitation) or abhyasa (, habit, practice).[16] In the
Mahabharata Book 6 Chapter 2, the meaning of guna similarly comes in the sense of addressing
each part (the root implying amantrana), and thereby it means avayava (, member,
subdivision, portion). In Sanskrit treatises on food and cooking, guna means quality, tendency and
nature of ingredient. Ancient South Indian commentators, such as Lingayasurin, explain that the
meaning of guna as "thread, string" comes from the root guna- in the sense of repetition (abhyasa),
while the Telugu commentator Mallinatha explains the root guna- is to be understood in
Sisupalavadha as amredana (, reiteration, repetition).[16] Larson and Bhattacharya suggest
that the "thread" metaphor relates to that which connects and runs between what we objectively
observe to the tattva (, elementary property, principle, invisible essence) of someone or
something.[10][17]
In the context of philosophy, morality and understanding nature, "Guna-" with more dental na takes
the meaning of addressing quality, substance, tendency and property.[10][16] In abstract discussion, it
includes all hues of qualities desirable, neutral or undesirable; but if unspecified, it is assumed with

good faith to be good and divine in Indian philosophy. Thus, Gui from the root "Gua-" means
someone or something with "divine qualities", as in Svetasvatara Upanishad hymn VI.2. [16]