Yoga through Understanding the Three Modes of Material Nature

The Blessed Lord said, "I will again declare to thee that supreme knowledge, the best of all knowledge, having known which all the sages have gone to supreme perfection after this life."

Further analysis of the field is made in this chapter.In chapter XIII, verse 21, it has been stated that attachment to the alities is the cause of Samsara or births in good and evil wombs. In this chapter the Lord gives answers to the questions What are the alities of Nature (Gunas) How do they bind a man What are the characteristics of these alities How do they operate How can one obtain freedom from them What are the characteristics of a liberated soulAll knowledge has no reference to the knowledge described in chapter XIII, verse 7 to 10, but it refers to that kind of knowledge which concerns sacrifices. That kind of knowledge which relates to sacrifices cannot give liberation. But the knowledge which is going to be imparted in this discourse will certainly lead to emancipation. The Lord eulogises this knowledge by the epithets supreme and the best in order to create great interest in Arjuna and other spiritual aspirants.Having learnt this supreme knowledge, all the sages who practised Manana or reflection (Munis) have attained perfection after being freed from bondage to the body.Itah After this life after being freed from this bondage to the body.

Those who, having taken refuge in this knowledge, have attained unity with Me, are neither born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution.

Having resorted to this knowledge they (the sages) are assimilated into My own nature. They have attained to My Being. They have become identical with Me. They live in Me with no thought of thou or I. They go beyond birth and death. There is no birth for them when creation begins and there is no death for them at the time of dissolution. Having reached Me they attain eternity, immortality and perfection. Having become identical with Me through the attainment of the knowledge of the Self by practising the necessary means, they are neither born at the time of creation nor are they disited at the time of dissolution. Knowledge of the Self is eulogised by the Lord in this verse.

My womb is the great Brahma; in it I place the germ; thence, O Arjuna, is the birth of all beings.

My womb is the great Nature. The cosmos is evolved out of His Nature. Nature is called the great Brahma for She is the resting place of the five subtle elements and also the Mahat (cosmic mind). She is callled the great Brahma, because through Her the whole manifestation takes place.All changes arise out of this great Nature. So She has got the name Mulaprakriti or Primordial Nature or the original principle. From the point of view of the Unmanifest She is called Avyakta. The Vedantins call Her Maya (illusion). The Sankhyas call Her Prakriti.This Prakriti is called great because She is greater than all Her effects. This Nature, made of the three alities, is the material cause of all beings. As She is the source or cause of all Her,modifications and also nourishes all the modifications with Her energy, She is called Brahma.I place in it (the Mahabrahma) the embryo of life then all beings begin to come to life therefrom. In the great Brahma or Nature I place the germ or the seed for the birth of Hiranyagarbha and the seed gives birth to all beings. The birth of Hiranyagarbha or Brahma (the Creator) gives rise to the birth of beings. The Primordial Nature is like the clay. She cannot create the forms Herself. She gives birth to Brahma Who creates all beings just as the potter creates various forms from the clay

Whatever forms are produced, O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever, the great Brahma is their womb, and I am the seed-giving father.

I am the father The Primordial Nature is the mother. The whole manifested world is the child Nature has produced in its association with me. Therefore I am called the father of this world.Wombs Such as the gods, the manes, men, cattle, beasts, birds, etc.Forms Bodies consisting of parts, limbs, organs, etc.

These qualities, O Arjuna, born of Nature, bind fast in the body of the embodied, the indestructible: purity, passion, and inertia.

Sattva is the best. Rajas comes next. Tamas is the lowest and the worst. The three alities indicate the triple mentality. They produce attachment in the individual souls, delude them and bind them down, as it were, to Samsara. Just as the three conditions of childhood, youth and old age are found in the same body, so also the three alities inhere in the mind. The soul gets limited by identifying itself with body and the three alities. It is subject to birth and death and experiences happiness and misery, pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow till it realises its identity with the supreme Self.The word Guna is usually translated as quality. It does not signify property, attribute or quality, such as the blue colour of a cloth. Gunas are really the primary constitutents of Nature and are the basis of all substances. Therefore it is not proper to call them alities inhering in substances.If you want to attain freedom or perfection, if you wish to become immortal, you must rise above the modes of Nature. You must transcend the Gunas.If the water in the vessel is agitated, the reflected sun in the water also appears to be agitated through Pratibimba Adhyasa (superimposition of reflection on water). Even so the pure unchanging Self appears to be bound by the alities of Nature through superimposition. In reality the Self is ever free and untainted

Of these, sattva, which is luminous and healthy due to its stainlessness, binds one by attachment to happiness and knowledge, O sinless one.

Sattva is stainless like the crystal. It lays for one the trap of happiness and knowledge. It is a golden fetter. A Sattvic man compares himself with others and rejoices in his excellence. He is puffed up with his knowledge. His heart is filled with pride when he thinks that he,has more comforts or more pleasant experiences. He thinks, I am happy I am wise, and so he is bound as it were. These ideas really belong to the field but they are transferred through superimposition to the Self on account of the force of SattvaGuna.Rajas and Tamas are pitfalls on the path of knowledge.This attachment to happiness is an illusion. This is ignorance. An attribute of the object cannot belong to the subject. All the alities from desire to firmness (Cf.XIII.6) belong to the field. From ignorance, nondiscrimination is born and so the individual self is not able to discriminate between the permanent and the impermanent, the subject and the object.Knowledge is an attribute of the Antahkarana (inner instrument, viz., mind, intellect, the unconscious and the ego) but not of the Self. It if were an attribute of the Self, it could not produce attachment and bondage. Sattva binds the soul to knowledge through attachment.

Know, O Arjuna, that Rajas is of the nature of passion, the source of thirst and attachment; it binds fast the embodied one by attachment to action.

The quality of Rajas denotes activity and ambition. The Rajasic man is full of cravings and desires. The cravings force him to act for their fulfilment. He gets attached to those who help him in the fulfilment of his desire and hates those who stand in his way. He is attached to action. He enters on great undertakings. He performs various sorts of sacrifices and rituals and charitable activities. He runs after sensual pleasures and his desires become insatiable like a flame fed by oil. The Self is not the doer. It is the silent witness but Rajas creates in the man the idea, I am the doer.Rajas pleases the mind and keeps alive the passions.A Rajasic man is never contented. He is ever greedy and restless. The more he acires, the more passionate and greedy he becomes. Desires multiply. Nothing gives him satisfaction. If he is a millionaire, he tries to become a multimillionaire. It is like petrol poured into the fire, which inflames it further. A Rajasic man loses his understanding and power of discrimination. His understanding is clouded. He is under intoxication of the pride of wealth. His intellect is turbid. He has a perverted intellect. On account of perversion of intellect misery appears to him to be happiness pain appears to him to be pleasure sorrow appears to be joy. His goal is money and women

But know thou Tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings; it binds fast, O Arjuna, through heedlessness, indolence, and sleep.

Tamas is that binding force with a tendency to lethargy, sloth and foolish actions. It causes delusion or nondiscrimination. It binds him who associates the Self with the body. A Tamasic man acts under the compulsion of the wants of the body. He has no power of judgment. Troubled by the wants of the body he acts under pressure to keep himself alive. His actions are not guided by reason. They are on the plane of instinct. His senses are dull. He becomes infatuated and stupefied. He has no inclination to work. He yawns much. He sleeps too much. He always wants to sleep. He nevr knows when and how to act, what, to whom and how to talk. He takes delight in following the wrong path. He does not know how to behave or how to address others. He is thoughtless and ignorant. He forgets everything. He is negligent and indolent. He is just in a stage higher than lifeless matter.He who is under the grip of heedlessness (Pramada) is not able to discriminate between the eternal and the noneternal. This is an enemy of illumination, the effect of Sattva. He who is overpowered by laziness (Alasya) is not able to exert. This is an enemy of Pravritti, the effect of Rajas. Sleep (Nidra) is LayaVritti, (a state of absorption into ignorance) which is dependent on Tamas. This is the enemy of the works done by Sattva and Rajas.

Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Arjuna, while Tamas, verily shrouding knowledge, attaches to heedlessness.

Just as a dark cloud enshrouds the sun, so also Tamas envelops knowledge or the light of the Self. Tamas creates an attachment for heedlessness, that is, ignorance or forgetfulness of duty or the nonperformance of necessary (obligatory) duties.

Now, O Arjuna, Sattva prevails, having overpowered Rajas and Tamas; then Rajas, having overpowered Sattva and Tamas; and then Tamas, having overpowered Sattva and Rajas.

Just as winter has its sway when summer and autumn have gone, just as sleep has its sway when a man is neither dreaming nor waking, so also Sattva has its sway when Rajas and Tamas are suppressed and makes people say that they are happy. The Sadhana for increasing Sattva is given in the 17th and 18th chapters.Each quality acts in its own turn at different times. All the three alities cannot operate at one and the same time. When one quality asserts itself or prdominates by overpowering or suppressing the other two, it produces its own effect. Sattva produces knowledge and happiness Rajas action Tamas veiling of knowledge, inertia, error, indolence, sloth and sleep. When Sattva is in the ascendant in a man, he is endowed with discrimination. Sublime thoughts roll in his mind. He has pure understanding. His mind turns away from sensual pleasures and moves inward towards the Self.What is the characteristic mark by which you can know that a particular quality is predominant or is in the ascendant The answer is given in the following three verses.

When the wisdom-light shines through every gate of this body, then it may be known that Sattva is predominant.

When a particular quality becomes predominant, it reveals its distinctive characteristics in man. Just as jasmine scatters its fragrance far and wide, so also knowledge disseminates itself in all directions. Convert Tamas into Rajas and Rajas into Sattva. Now stand firm in Sattva. You will get increase of light, purity, peace and harmony. Sattva will lead you upwards. You will have an upward pull towards the Supreme Light. Sattvic diet, Japa, meditation, study of holy scriptures, living in seclusion, company of holy men, singing His Names and glories, and regulation of breath (Pranayama) will increase Sattva.Introspect. Look within. Watch the Gunas carefully. Be vigilant. Stand as a doorkeeper. Allow only Sattvic thoughts to pass through the door of the mental factory. Check Rajas. Curb Tamas. When Sattva predominates there is unruffled peace of mind, inner harmony, perfect serenity and tranillity. There is clarity or clear vision also. The understanding is not clouded. There is penetrative insight. The door or threshold of intuition is wide open. The senses will not run towards external objects.The senses are the avenues of senseknowledge. They are the gateways of perception for the Self. When light shines in all the gates of the body, such as the eyes, the ears, etc. (in other words when there is the manifestation of the BuddhiVritti of the Antahkarana), then knowledge arises

Greed, activity, the undertaking of actions, restlessness, and longing—these arise when Rajas is predominant, O Arjuna.

Greed Covetousness Desire to appropriate the property of others a desire to possess more wealth though one has sufficient already.Pravritti Action in general.Asamah Restlessness being agitated by joy, attachment, etc. I will do this and then I wil take up that action. After finishing the second, I will take up the third, and so on. There is no end to the continuity of desire, will and action. This is called Asama or restlessness.Spriha Thirsting or longing for all sensual objects in general.These are the characteristic marks that indicate that Rajas is predominant.Do not mistake Rajasic restlessness or Rajasic movements for Karma Yoga or divine activity. People may say that they are doing selfless service to the world, but if you analyse their motives,there will be the taint of personal desire in some form or other. Many persons cannot sit quiet even for a moment. They think that moving about here and there or doing some action or other is to full of life. The Yogi or sage who sits still by calming the mind, who does nothing at all physically, is the most active man in the whole world whereas the man who runs here and there and who is always very busy does nothing at all. This may be paradoxical to you. Very few can comprehend the truth of this statement. Sattva is intense activity. A wheel that revolves very rapidly appears to be at rest. So is Sattva. So is a Sattvic man.

Darkness, inertia, carelessness, and delusion—these arise when Tamas is predominant, O Arjuna.

When Tamas increases, darkness, a desire to do nothing, forgetfulness of ones duties and confusion ome into existence.Darkness Absence of discrimination.Apravritti Inertness extreme inactivity.Pramada (heedlessness) and Moha (delusion) are the effects of darkness. These are the characteristics or marks which indicate that Tamas is predominant. Tamas is a great stumbling block to spiritual progress and success in any walk of life. It must be destroyed at all costs. People mistake Tamas for Sattva or Santi (peace). They take the Tamasic man for a silent Yogi All is Prarabdha Everything is Maya There is no world Why should I work Work will bind me. I am Brahman. This is not spirituality but pure and thick Tamas.

If the embodied one meets death when Sattva is predominant, then they attain the spotless worlds of the knowers of the Highest.

Lokan Amalan Sptless worlds Brahmaloka and the like where Rajas and Tamas never predominate.The Highest Deities such as Hiranyagarbha.

Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those who are attached to action; and dying in Tamas, he is born in the womb of the thoughtless.

Meeting with death in Rajas If he dies when Rajas is predominant in him, he is born among men who are attached to action. If he dies when Tamas is fully predominant in him, he takes birth in ignorant species such as cattle, birds, beasts or insects.He may take his birth amongst the dull and the stupid or the lowest grades of human beings. He need not take the body of an animal. This is the view of some persons.

They say that the fruit of good action is Sattvic and pure; indeed, the fruit of Rajas is pain, and the fruit of Tamas is ignorance.

Good action Sattvic action. The fruit of good action is both happiness and,knowledge.They The wise.Rajas means Rajasic action as this verse deals with action. The fruit of Rajasic action is bitter. Rajasic action brings pain, disappointment and dissatisfaction. Rajasic activity leads to greed. When the Rajasic man tries to gratify his original desires, new desires crop up. This opens the door to greed.Tamas Tamasic action, unrighteous deeds or sin (Adharma). There is no knowledge within and no foresight.

From Sattva arises knowledge, and greed from Rajas; heedlessness and delusion arise from Tamas, and also ignorance.

From Sattva When Sattva becomes predominant. Sattva awakesn knowledge just as the sun causes daylight. Sattva enlightens the intellect.Greed is insatiable like fire. Greed brings misery and pain. Greed is born of Rajas. Rajas creates insatiable desire. Rajas makes one blind to the interests and the feelings of others. A Rajasic man treats others as tools to be utilised for his own selfadvancement or selfaggrandisement.Tamas produces shortsightedness, torpor and ignorance. A Tamasic man does not think a bit of the future conseences. He completely identifies himself with the body and begins to fight with people if they injure his body or speak ill of him. He is ready to do any sinful act in retaliation. He has no sense of proportion and no sense of balance or poise.

Those seated in Sattva ascend; those of Rajasic nature dwell in the middle; and those of Tamasic nature, abiding in the function of the lowest Guna, descend.

Those who abide in Sattva become the lords of heaven after giving up the physical body. The Rajasic are rorn on this earth as human beings. The Tamasic go downwards, i.e., they will be born in the wormbs of cattle and beasts. They may take their birth amongst the lowest grades of human beings. The lowest grades of human beings are only brutes though they have assumed human form. Their actions are brutal. Therefore it is not necessary for them to enter into animal incarnation.Man identifies himself with Nature on account of the force of ignorance or illusory knowledge and gets attached to the alities of Nature. This is the cause of his birth in the wombs of high or low creatures. He feels, I am happy, miserable or deluded, on account of the attachment to the Gunas.The nature of the Gunas, their functions, how they bind a man to the Samsara, the effects of each Guna when it is predominant, and the plane reached by the man when he is under the influence of a particular Guna are described in the previous verses. Now the Lord describes in the following verse that liberation comes when one knows Him Who is above the three Gunas.

When the seer beholds no agent other than the Gunas and knows that which is higher than them, he attains to My Being.

The Supreme Self is in no way contaminated by the alities. The liberated sage exclaims I am the witness of the alities. I am neither the enjoyer nor the doer. The alities form the motive power of all actions. I am beyond the Gunas. The Gunas alone are responsible for all actions. I am entirely distinct from the alities. I am pure consciousness. I cannot be touched by the alities. I am like the ether.When a man gets illumination or attains knowledge of the Self, when he realises that there is no agent except the Gunas which are themselves modified as the bodies, the senses and their objects, when he knows that it is the Gunas only that become the agent in all transformations, in all states and in all actions, and when he realises the Supreme Self Who is distinct from the Gunas, Who is the silent witness of the Gunas and their functions, he attains to My state (liberation), i.e., becomes identical with Me. He becomes a Gunatita, i.e., one who has transcended the three Gunas.

The embodied one, having crossed beyond these three Gunas from which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay, and pain, and attains immortality.

Just as a river is absorbed in the ocean, so also he who has, while still alive, gone beyond the alities which form the seed from which all bodies have sprung and of which they are composed, is absorbed in Me. He ever enjoys the bliss of the Eternal. He attains release or Moksha. He attains to My Being.When the Lord said that the wise man crosses beyond the three alities and attains immortality, Arjuna became inspired with the desire of learning more about it. Just as he has asked a question about the sage of steady wisdom in chapter II, verse 54, he now asks Lord Krishna about the characteristics of a sage who has crossed over the three alities. How does he act What is his conduct or behaviour How has he gone beyond the alities

Arjuna said, "What are the marks of one who has transcended the three qualities, O Lord? What is their conduct, and how do they go beyond these three qualities?"

Arjuna said O Lord, by what characteristics may a man be recognised as having gone beyond the three alities What is the behaviour of that Trigunatita sage (one who has gone beyond the three alities) and how does he go beyond the world and is above the Gunas Tell me that.These are the characteristics of the sage who has gone beyond the Gunas others should cultivate them.Just as a king is able to remove the grievances and sorrows of his servants, so also the Lord is able to remove the sorrows of His devotees. That is the reason why Arjuna addresses Sri Krishna as Lord and uses the term Prabhu. By using this word, Arjuna hinted to the Lord that He alone was capable of relieving his sorrows and pains. (Cf.II.54)

The Blessed Lord said, "When light, activity, and delusion are present, he does not hate them, nor does he long for them when they are absent.

This is the answer to Arjuna's first question. Light is the effect of Sattva, activity of Rajas and delusion of Tamas. The liberated sage does not hate them when they are present. When Sattva shines he is not carried away by pride. He does not think, I am a vey learned man. When the impulse for action is awakened in the body or when there is a divine call for him to do work for the solidarity of the world (Lokasangraha) he does not hate any action and he does not regret it after the action is accomplished. He feels no remorse while performing actions. The work is like the play of a child. While inertia increases in him, he is not deluded by infatuation.Only an ignorant man thinks Tamas has entered into me. I am deluded. I am under the influence of heedlessness, torpor, sloth, laziness and indolence. Now I am under the influence of Rajas. I am forced to do activities. This is painful. I have fallen from my true nature. This gives me a lot of pain. Now Sattva predominates in me. I am attached to happiness and knowledge. I am proud of my learning and better status.The liberated sage who has transcended the Gunas does not thus hate them when they are present.A man of Sattva or Rajas or Tamas longs for light, action or inertia which first manifested themselves and disappeared

He who, seated like one unconcerned, is not moved by the dualities, and who, knowing that the dualities are active, is self-centered and does not move.

He is seated as a neutral (one who inclines to neither party). He is free from likes and dislikes. He is entirely unconcerned whether the alities with their effects and the body come or go. He is like the spectator at a football or a cricket match or a drama. Just as the sky remains unconcerned when the wind blows, so also he remains ite unconcerned when the alities operate.He does not swerve from the path of Selfrealisation. He treads the path firmly. He thinks and feels The alities are modified into the body, senses and senseobjects. They act and react upon one another, remains unshaken by them. He abides in his own Self and stands firm like the mountain Meru. (Cf.III.28V.8to11)

Who is the same in pleasure and pain, who dwells in the Self, to whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold are all alike, who is the same to the dear and the unfriendly, who is firm, and to whom censure and praise are one and the same.

Night and day have no meaning to a post fixed in the ground. Even so pleasure and pain have no meaning to a sage who dwells in his own Self. He is above the pairs of opposites. In his eyes cowdung or gold, a jewel or a stone, are of eal value. He is free from the idea of,giving and taking. His mind is not perturbed by anything pleasant or unpleasant. He is the same towards agreeable and disagreeable things. Praise and censure cannot affect him. He stands adamant. He abides in his own essential state as ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute. He is ever calm and serene. (Cf.V.18)

Who is the same in honor and dishonor, the same to friend and foe, abandoning all undertakings, he is said to have transcended the dualities.

He keeps a balanced mind in honour and dishonour. He is the same to friend and foe. He is not affected by the dual throng. He has risen above the Gunas. He rests in his own essential nature as ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute. He abids in his own Self. He is a Gunatita (one who has transcended the alities of Nature) who is not affected by the play of the alities. He keeps an even outlook amidst changes. He maintains a clam eilibrium.He abandons all actions that can bring visible or invisible fruits or results but he does actions that are necessary for the bare maintenance of his body. The alities described in verses 23, 24 and 25, such as indifference, etc., are the means for attaining liberation. They represent the ideal that you should have before you. The aspirant should cultivate them. But one attains knowledge of the Self when he abides in his own true nature. These attributes form part and parcel of his nature and serve as marks to indicate that he has crossed beyond the three alities.The Lord gives in the following verse the answer to the third question of Arjuna How does one go beyond the three alities

And he who serves Me with unwavering devotion, he, crossing beyond the dualities, is fit for becoming Brahman.

A Sannyasi or even a Karma Yogi who serves Him (the Isvara, Narayana Who abides in the hearts of all beings) with unswerving devotion, is endowed with the knowledge of the Self. He then goes beyond the three alities and becomes fit to become Brahman, for attaining liberation or release from birth and death.He attains to the knowledge of the Self through the grace and mercy of the Lord. To these everharmonious devotees worshipping Me in love, I give the Yoga of discrimination by which they come unto Me. Out of pure compassion for them, dwelling within their Self, I destroy the ignorancorn darkness by the shining lamp of wisdom. (Chapter X. 10 and 11)Avyabhicharini Bhakti The devotee constantly meditates on the Lord. He has exclusive devotion to the Lord alone. He has no other thought save that of his Lord. His mind is filled with the thoughts of the Lord. His thoughts flow towards the Lord like the continuous flow of oil from one vessel to another. There is Sajatiya Vritti Pravaha, i.e., unbroken flow of the one thought of God. There is total abandonment of thoughts of sensual objects. Constant thinking of God is the sure means for crossing beyond the three alities of Nature.

For I am the abode of Brahman, the immortal, immutable, and everlasting Dharma, and absolute bliss.

The Self Which is immortal and immutable, Which is attainable by the eternal Dharma or the knowledge of the Self, Which is unending bliss, abides in Me, the Supreme Being.,I, the innermost Self, am the abode of the Supreme Self. The aspirant beholds, with the eye of intuition, that the innermost Self is the very Supreme Self, through Selfrealisation.The Lord bestows grace and mercy on His devotees through His Sakti, energy or power, or Maya. Sakti and the Lord are one. Just as heat is inseparable from fire, so also Maya or Sakti is inseparable from the Lord. Sakti cannot be distinct from the Lord in Whom She inheres.There is another interpretation. By Brahman here is meant the Brahman with attributes or alities, the conditioned Brahman. I, the Absolute Brahman, transcending the attributes or alities, the unconditioned Absolute, am the abode of the Saguna (conditioned) Brahman Who is immortal and imperishable. I am also the abode of the eternal Dharma of Jnananishtha (establishment in the highest wisdom) and the abode of the unending bliss born of that unswerving devotion.