The Bhagavad-Gita, “Song of God” is a Sanskrit text from the chapter Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata epic, comprising 700 verses. Bhagavad-Gita is universally renowned as the jewel of India’s spiritual wisdom. Gita’s seven hundred concise verses provide a definitive guide to the science of self realization. No other philosophical or religious work reveals, in such a lucid and profound way, the nature of consciousness, the self, the universe and the Supreme.

The Bhagavad-Gita is also called Gitopanishad as well as Yogopanishad, implying its status as an Upanishad, or a Vedantic scripture. Since the Gita is drawn from the Mahabharata, it is included in Smriti texts. However, being one of Upanishads, it has a status of ?ruti, or revealed knowledge.

The Bhagavad-Gita is considered by eastern and western scholars alike to be among the greatest spiritual books the world has ever known. In a very clear and wonderful way the Supreme Lord Krishna describes the science of self-realization and the exact process by which a human being can establish their eternal relationship with God. In terms of pure, spiritual knowledge the Bhagavad-Gita is incomparable. Its intrinsic beauty is that its knowledge applies to all human beings and does not postulate any sectarian idealogy or secular view. It is appproachable from the sanctified realms of all religions and is glorified as the epitome of all spiritual teachings. This is because proficiency in Bhagavad-Gita reveals the eternal principles which are fundamental and essential for spiritual life from all perspectives and allows one to perfectly understand the esoteric truths hidden within all religious scriptures. Many great thinkers from our times such as Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Schweizer as well as Madhvacarya, Sankara and Ramanuja from bygone ages have all contemplated and deliberarted upon its timeless message. The primary purpose of the Bhagavad-Gita is to illuminate for all of humanity the realization of the true nature of divinity; for the highest spiritual conception and the greatest material perfection is to attain love of God!

The content of the text is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra just prior to the start of the Kurukshetra war. Responding to Arjuna’s confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and Prince and elaborates on different Yogic and Vedantic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. During the discourse, Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being Himself, blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring glimpse of His divine universal form.

A traditional religious dating for the events of the Mahabharata War according to the chronology established in Gupta times by Aryabhata on grounds of archaeoastronomical calculations places the Mahabharata (including the Bhagavad-Gita) in the late 4th millennium BC (3138 BC or 3102 BC). Within the text of the Bhagavad-Gita itself Krishna claims that the knowledge of yoga contained in the Gita was first instructed to mankind at the very beginning of their existence. It is not uncommon for religious traditions within Hinduism to believe the teachings of the Gita to be much older than the dates ascribed to it by modern scholars.

In summary the main philosophical subject matter of the Bhagavad-Gita is the explanation of five basic concepts or “truths”: Ishvara (The Supreme Controller), Jiva (Living beings/the soul), Prakrti (Matter), Karma (Action) and Kala (Time). Krishna counsels Arjuna on the greater idea of dharma or universal harmony and duty. He begins with the tenet that the soul is eternal and immortal. Any ‘death’ on the battlefield would involve only the shedding of the body, but the soul is permanent. Arjuna’s hesitation stems from a lack of right understanding of the ‘nature of things,’ the privileging of the unreal over the real. His fear and reticence become impediments to the proper balancing of the universal dharmic order. Essentially, Arjuna wishes to abandon the battle, to abstain from action; Krishna warns, however, that without action, the cosmos would fall out of order and truth would be obscured.

Fundamentally, Bhagavad-Gita proposes that true enlightenment comes from growing beyond identification with the temporal ego, the ‘False Self’, the ephemeral world, so that one identifies with the truth of the immortal self, the soul or Atman. Through detachment from the material sense of ego, the Yogi, follower of a particular path of Yoga, is able to transcend his/her illusory mortality and attachment to the material world and enter the realm of the Supreme. It should be noted, however, that Krishna does not propose that the physical world must be forgotten or neglected. Indeed, it is quite the opposite: one’s life on earth must be lived in accordance with greater laws and truths; one must embrace one’s temporal duties whilst remaining mindful of a more timeless reality, acting for the sake of action without consideration for the results thereof. Such a life would naturally lead towards stability, happiness and ultimately, enlightenment.

Sampoorna Bhagavad-Gita Padanam:

Bhagavad-Gita as mentioned above is something everybody should study in depth and understand properly for the balancing of universal dharmic order. Even though we talk a lot about Bhagavad-Gita and read bits and pieces here and there, only very few have studied and understood this great knowledge or wisdom, which answers questions posed by philosophers for centuries. The first and most significant reason for this limitation is our inadequate knowledge in Sanskrit. From my experience, even the translations of Bhagavad-Gita are not very easy to read and understand. Without somebody having good knowledge in Sanskrit to explain the meaning in detail with examples, it is not really possible for a normal person to understand the right sense or the deep meaning of Bhagavad-Gita’s message.

Sampoorna Bhagavad-Gita Padanam by Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan of Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage (IISH) is an ideal detailed study of Bhagavad-Gita. A Sanskrit scholar, scientist by profession, very highly qualified academic person with vast experience in modern science; read out Bhagavad-Gita in Sanskrit and explains meaning word by word in Malayalam is a real treasure for those who are interested in learning Bhagavad-Gita from scratch. You can listen to him with a copy of Bhagavad-Gita in hand as if you are in his classroom. I have uploaded this great collection in 26 MP3 files; the links are listed below. For those who like to read Gita in English, I made a Bhagavad-Gita eBook in .pdf format - link is provided below. In today’s fast world, this will help us to learn Bhagavad-Gita while driving, commute, working or at free time since compact MP3 players are well available everywhere.

An abstract version of Bhagavad-Gita study is available by Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan of IISH - Bhagavad-Gita Sandesam. This collection also will be uploaded in MP3 format soon

o Sampoorna Bhagavad Geetha Padanam (Part 001 to 026) - 1.05 GB

http://www.4shared.com/dir/8290782/4cb25a3f/sharing.html (Part by part links below)

o The Bhagavad Gita – eBook - 6.30 MB

http://www.adrive.com/public/bfbdf9d90f0befa639144c6e78fe75f526e22bac5c1c72f7aa58965df743d610.html

What is good and what is bad?
Fools cannot see at all
With a garment tied to its tail
Can the rat enter its hole.
~ Sant Kabir (1398-1448)

Sant Kabir says that foolish people cannot discriminate between good and evil. Such men cannot be happy because the load of evil gets too heavy for them. Jealousy is one of those unnecessary evils we burden ourselves with. None of us could honestly say that we have not ever been jealous of ones that are more fortunate.

Ironically, however, jealousy is generally found among equals or near equals like friends of equal social status, colleagues in the office and relatives. We are not jealous of someone who is either too highly placed or too distantly connected with us.

How many of us care who becomes the president of USA or prime minister of India? Jealousy keeps us under a sense of discouraging frustration and disappointment. It makes us gloomy. It is such a depressing feeling that we cannot tell about it to even our best friends nor can we contain it within ourselves. Consequently, it leaves us with an inconvenience of a peculiar misery and if allowed to grow unchecked beyond a limit, it works like a slow poison to our healthy nature.

The question is how to annihilate this undesirable evil? The following three suggestions may help:

1. Stop comparing yourself with others.

Comparisons are always harmful. If they are in your favor, they bring false pride in you; if against you, they depress you. Pride can make you overconfident and eventually can be the cause of your downfall. Conversely, with jealousy you lose self-reliance, seek unjust methods of putting down your friend, colleague or relative, and ultimately end up in frustration. So to bring jealousy under your control, avoid comparing yourself with others as much as possible. Think that you are unique because that is how God wanted you to be. Pursue in all seriousness your own ideal, whatever it is. Do not waste your precious time in idle and miserable envy.

2. Have patience and wait.

No one is lucky or unlucky every time in life. Work hard and wait for your lucky days when fortune will take you up and others will look up to you in envy. This may sound like a defensive strategy, and a doubtful method. But use this waiting period in driving jealousy out of your mind. Thus, you can turn a mere defensive strategy of biding your time into a positive blessing. Moreover…

3. Believe in, “May all people be happy”.

You have said it numerous times in temples and other places of prayers. It is about time you practiced it. It is a golden principle that you must adopt if you wish to rise above petty jealousy. Think that you and others, being fragments of the Universal Soul, are the fingers of the same palm. Among whom no jealousy can exist in spite of differences in their lengths. If one of your children is more intelligent than you, you are not jealous of him or her. Are you? Why? Think, can’t you love others the same way. If your friend or your colleague or your relative is enjoying some advantages over you now, be happy for him or her. Surely your turn will also come. Full justice is meted out to all individual souls in the end. This is the divine law. Have faith and adopt this spirit in action.

Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have power to create conditions in your life.
What you speak about, you can bring about!
If you keep saying you can’t stand your job, you might lose your job.
If you keep saying you can’t stand your body, your body can become sick.
If you keep saying you can’t stand your car, your car could be stolen or just stop operating.
If you keep saying you’re broke, guess what? You’ll always be broke.
If you keep saying you can’t trust a man or trust a woman, you will always find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.
If you keep saying you can’t find a job, you will remain unemployed.
If you keep saying you can’t find someone to love you or believe in you, your very thought will attract more experiences to confirm your beliefs.
If you keep talking about a divorce or break up in a relationship, then you might end up with it.
Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive and power packed with faith , hope , love and action .
Don’t be afraid to believe that you can have what you want and deserve.

Watch your THOUGHTS, they become WORDS.
Watch your WORDS, they become ACTIONS.
Watch your ACTIONS, they become HABITS.
Watch your HABITS, they become CHARACTER.
Watch your CHARACTER, for it becomes your DESTINY.

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settle for.
Thought I would share this with you -
In the search for ME, I discovered TRUTH.
In the search for TRUTH, I discovered LOVE.
In the search for LOVE, I discovered GOD.
And in GOD, I have found EVERYTHING.
Watch how your circumstances and situations begin to change when you change the way you speak.
“Life is like melted butter. . .once things cool down, it can be reshaped!”
Be blessed.

THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION…

The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone, really it’s not that hard to say, Hello or Thank You.

Friends are a very rare jewel indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care.

Affirmations are one of the simplest and most powerful things we can do to change the quality of our lives and to create the things we want. Affirmations are the force of creation.

“Every thought has a counterpart in a word or sound; the word and the thought are inseparable. The external part of a thing is what we may call the thought. The same thought may be expressed by different words or sounds. Though the sounds vary, yet the relation between the sound and the thoughts is a natural one” - Swami Nikhilananda Sri Ramakrishna Math.

The power of affirmations can be stated very simply: Affirmations are the force of creation. AUM being the sound symbol of Parmatman (Supreme Reality), it is considered to be the first vibration as sound emanating at the beginning of creation. “In the beginning was the word….” (John 1:10).

To affirm means to make firm. There is very little mystery about how and why affirmations work, once the principle is understood. An affirmation is simply a spoken declaration, in the present tense, which creates a desired reality. Affirm what you know to be true in your heart, and you will create that reality. Affirm that you are free, strong, attractive, prosperous and loving –you will find, often in a remarkably short time, that your outer world will begin to change as a reflection of your changing inner consciousness.

Through our words and the thoughts behind them, we are continually giving our bodies operating instructions. By being observant, we can become aware of this process. Everything, before it is created on the physical plane, is at first a spiritual impulse, then a thought, then a feeling. Before we can build a house, there must be a blueprint for it, a design, an idea. Words are creative ideas spoken, made manifest into the world. Vedanta explains this process as VASANAS. VASANAS are subtle impressions which the individual soul will carry with when the soul separates itself from the physical body upon the death of a person. To understand this term VASANA, first think of ice, which is gross. It is solid and it can be touched or felt and can be cut into different shapes. Water is subtler than ice. Water cannot be cut into shape, although it will assume the shape of its container. Water is liquid and not solid like ice. Steam is subtler than water. We cannot hold steam in our hand as we can hold water. Steam is visible for a while and then it becomes invisible. Humidity in the air is subtler than steam. The presence of humidity in the air cannot be seen. The vasanas are like the humidity in the air, subtlest of all. The vasanas undergo transformation at the level of the intellect into thoughts. The thoughts in turn undergo transformation at the level of the mind into desires; and the desires undergo transformation at the level of the physical body into actions.

Every thought and every word – positive or negative – is an affirmation, and is creating the reality of the affirmation. The simplest way to do affirmation consciously is just to say them to yourself, either out loud or silently, whenever you feel like it. Especially say them to counteract any negative thoughts or words you find yourself thinking or saying. This is not a tool for repression – allow yourself to have any thoughts and feelings you have – don’t reject them – yet, give yourself the time and energy to affirm a more desirable reality after you have experienced and explored your so-called ‘negative’ feelings. For example, if you find yourself thinking, ‘This job is making me sick,’ look at what you are thinking and see if that’s something you really want to create for yourself. If it isn’t, affirm to yourself, out loud or silently and with emotion, ‘I am strong and healthy, when I do my work,’ or ‘I am eternally strong, healthy and young,’ or something which feels good to you. Say it repeatedly, if necessary and say it with emotion, until it feels like it has sunk in. By just becoming more aware of what you are saying and what you are thinking, you will find that you have plenty of material to deal with. Notice the things that aren’t working in your life and find affirmations to correct the situations. Of course, your feelings about your job may be a very valid reason for you to find another, healthier job. But if you choose for the present to remain in the same situation, create the most positive thoughts you can about it.

Make the affirmations in the present tense – even if it seems unrealistic. Don’t affirm, ‘I am going to create abundance in my life,’ because the results will always be waiting to happen in the future. Instead, suspend your current beliefs for a moment and affirm, ‘I now have abundance in my life!’ – and you’ll soon find that it is true. How soon your abundance will come depends on how strongly your affirmation is repeated and whether or not you are affirming the opposite on deeper levels of your consciousness (your subconscious negative beliefs). Many people are unconscious of this – and they are so often saying things like, ‘This is really making me sick,’ or ‘This job is killing me,’ or ‘He is a pain in the neck,’ or ‘This is driving me crazy,’ or ‘I can’t do it.’ These words are affirmations, just like any other words. No wonder these people are getting sick, dying too young at jobs they hate, getting headaches, going crazy and failing in life.

Look at your life – clearly and honestly. You will see what you have been affirming to yourself. Most of us have created a lot of things that we would prefer to do without. It is time to affirm, to create something better for yourself. We have been giving ourselves affirmations all our lives. Others also have been giving us affirmations all our lives. The only problem has been that we have not been consciously aware of the process and power of affirmations so we have affirmed a lot of things, which we could do better without.

Anything you say or think to yourself is an affirmation. Anything anyone else says to you is an affirmation, if you accept it. Our subconscious minds accept it all – whether for better or worse. Many of us grew up in environments, which may not have been totally supportive. Most of us had parents, families, friends and other peers who may have given us a lot of terrible affirmations, which were destructive to our self-image. Children often tell each other that they are stupid or ugly or unable to do something. Brothers or sisters often say unflattering things to each other. These are unfortunate, negative affirmations. Most people are still carrying with them, in their basic core beliefs, the non-supportive things, which their parents, teachers, friends and families told them when they were so young that they didn’t have the awareness to question or ignore. These affirmations have an especially powerful effect when there is a strong emotion behind them- those moments when Mommy is deeply upset and yells: “You never do anything for me!” give the child a deep affirmation of his or her own selfishness and worthlessness.

It’s no wonder that people have affirmed themselves into neurosis, poverty, selfishness, unattractiveness, sickness, weak and limited self-images, etc. Fortunately, affirmations are so powerful that a few minutes of conscious, deep, positive ones repeated daily for a few weeks could do years of unconscious, deep, negative ones. This is especially true because the positive affirmations have the greatest power in the universe behind them: the power of truth. Because the truth is that you are a free being. You are not limited or restricted, your life is worthwhile, you are a good person – not a bad one and you are really loving – even though that love may be buried under years of unexpressed anger, guilt and frustration.

Therefore, we emphasize again: Affirm what you know to be true in your heart and you will create that reality. Affirm that you are free, strong, attractive, prosperous and loving – you will find, often in a remarkably short time, that your outer world will begin to change as a reflection of your changing inner consciousness.

Often misunderstood, misused or abused and generally known as The Caste System - Brahman, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras.

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In the Bhagavad-Gita, The Lord says:

“The fourfold caste has been created by Me;

according to the differentiation of Guna and Karma;”

………… Ch.4, Verse 13

“There is no being on earth, or again in heaven among the gods,

that is liberated from the three qualities born of Nature. ”

………… Ch.18, Verse 40

“Of Brahmanas, Kshtriyas and Vaishyas, as also the Sudras,

O Arjuna, the duties are distributed according to the qualities born of their own nature. ”

………… Ch.18, Verse 41

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The word ‘GUNA’ - Satwa, Rajas and Tamas; in Vedanta means Prakriti. The principle of caste system is not confined to any one country. It applies to all human beings of all races, in all countries. This Sanatan principle is eternal and is not subject to change. It remains unchanged in the past, in the present and in the future.

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The Creator created human beings with their four divisions, viz., Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. The colour Brahmanas obtained was white; the Kshatriyas got red; the Vaisyas yellow and black was given to the Sudras. Here the words expressive of hue or colour really mean attributes. What is intended to be said is that the Brahmanas had the attribute of Goodness - Sattwa; the second order had the attribute of Passion - Rajas; third got a mixture of both goodness and passion (Sattwa and Rajas); while the lowest order got the remaining attribute, viz., Darkness - Tamas.

The whole world at first consisted of Brahmanas. Created equal by the Creator, Jevas have in consequence of their acts, become distributed into different orders. Those became fond of indulging in desire and enjoying pleasures, possessed of the attributes of severity and wrath, endued with courage and unmindful of the duties of piety and worship - these Brahmanas possessing the attribute of Passion became Kshatriyas.

Those Brahmanas again who, without attending to the duties laid down for them, became possessed of both the attributes of Goodness and Passion; took to the professions of cattle-rearing and agriculture, became Vaisyas. Those Brahmanas fond of untruth and injuring other creatures, possessed cupidity, engaged in all kinds of acts for a living and fallen away from purity of behaviour, thus wedded to the attribute of Darkness, became Sudras.

Separated by these occupations, Brahmanas, falling away from their own order, became members of the other three orders. All the four orders, therefore, have always the right to the performance of all pious duties and of sacrifices. Even thus were the four orders at first created equal by Brahma - the Creator who ordained for all of them (the observances disclosed in) the words of Brahma (the Vedas). Through cupidity alone, many fell away and became possessed by ignorance.

The Brahmanas always devoted to the scriptures on Brahma and mindful of vows and restraints are capable of grasping the conception of Brahman. Their penances therefore, never go for nothing. They amongst them are not Brahmanas that are incapable of understanding that every created thing is Supreme Brahman. These, falling away, became members of diverse (inferior) orders. Losing the light of knowledge and betaking themselves to an unrestrained course of conduct, they take birth as Pisachas, Rakshasas or demons, Pretas and individuals of diverse Mleccha species.

A person, who has been sanctified by such rites as those called JATA and others; who is pure in behaviour; who is engaged in studying the Vedas; who is devoted to the six well-known acts of ablutions every morning and evening, silent recitation of mantras, pouring libations on the sacrificial fire, worshipping the deities, doing the duties of hospitality to guests and offering food to the Viswedevas; who is properly observant of all pious acts; who never takes food without having offered it duly to gods and guests; who is filled with reverence for his preceptor and who is always devoted to vows and truth is called a Brahmana in whom are truth, gifts, abstention from injury to others, compassion, shame, benevolence and penance.

He who is engaged in the profession of battle, who studies the Vedas, who makes gifts to Brahmanas and takes wealth from those he protects, is called a Kshatriya. He who earns fame from keep of cattle, who is employed in agriculture and the means of acquiring wealth, who is pure in behaviour and attends to the study of the Vedas, is called a Vaisya. He who takes pleasure in eating every kind of food, who is engaged in doing every kind of work, who is impure in behaviour, who does not study the Vedas and whose conduct is unclean, is said to be a Sudra. If the saID characteristics be observable in a Sudra and if they be not found in a Brahmana, then such a Sudra, is not a Sudra and such a Brahmana is no Brahmana.

This as self-restraint, is the highest results of Knowledge. Those passions - cupidity and wrath, should be resisted, with whole heart. They make their appearance for destroying the highest good. One should always protect the prosperity from wrath, penance from pride; knowledge from honour & disgrace; and the soul from error. That intelligent person, who does all acts without desire of fruit, whose whole wealth exists for charity and performs the daily Homa, is a real renouncer or karma-sannyasa.

Every individual should behave oneself as a friend to all creatures, abstaining from all acts of injury. Rejecting the acceptance of all gifts, should by the aid of intelligence, be a complete master of passions. Should live in soul where there can be no grief. There would then have no fear here and attain to a fearless region hereafter. One should live always devoted to penances and with all passions completely restrained; observing the vow of taciturnity and with soul concentrated on itself; desirous of conquering the unconquered senses and unattached in the midst of attachments.

The indications of a Brahmana are purity, good behaviour and compassion unto all creatures. Sufficient liberty of action is left to them in consequence of which all individuals may attain to an equality of condition. A man of wisdom cannot catch hold of a sinful person and forcibly cause him to become righteous. When seriously urged to act righteously, the sinful only act with hypocrisy, impelled by fear.

All are equal in respect of their physical organism. All of them, again, are possessed of souls that are equal
in respect of their nature. When dissolution comes, everything dissolves away. What remains is the inceptive will to achieve Righteousness. That, indeed, reappears in next life of itself. When such is the result, that is when the enjoyments and endurance of this life are due to the acts of a past life, the inequality of lot discernible among human beings cannot be regarded in any way anomalous.

The status of a Brahmana is incapable of acquisition by a person belonging to any of the three other orders. That status is the highest with respect to all creatures. Travelling through innumerable orders of existence, by undergoing repeated births, one at last, in some birth, becomes born as a Brahmana. The status of a Brahmana is incapable of acquisition by persons begotten on uncleansed souls. But With the aid of these acts a Sudra may become a Brahman. Endued with knowledge and science, purified from all dross and fully conversant with the Vedas, a pious Kshatriya, by his own acts, becomes Brahman.

If the Sudra desires to be a Vaisya, he should abstain from meat, be truthful in speech, free from pride and arrogance. He should rise superior to all pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, joy and sorrow etc., he should be observant of the duties of peace and tranquility and become pure in body and mind.

The status of Brahmana once gained, it should always be protected with care. The manner in which a Sudra becomes Brahmana, is similar by which a Brahmana may fall away from his pure status to become a Sudra.

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FromTejabindupanishad, Shloka 12:

Brahman - the Supreme Reality is not known to those who are possessed of avarice, delusion, fear, egotism, lust, anger and sin or possessed of heat and cold, hunger and thirst, or mental resolve and indecision, or pride of birth in a Brahmin (priest) family, or vanity in having read a mass of books on Mukti (liberation or salvation). In other words - Realisation is not dependent on birth or book-learning as has been repeatedly demonstrated in the lives of saints, from the very earliest times to our own day.

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Whatever has happened, has happened for good.
Whatever is happening, is happening for good.
Whatever is going to happen, it will be for good.
What have you lost for which you cry?
What did you bring with you, which you have lost?
What did you produce, which has been destroyed?
You did not bring anything when you were born.
Whatever you have, you have received from Him.
Whatever you will give, you will give to Him.
You came empty handed and you will go the same way.
Whatever is yours today was somebody else’s yesterday and will be somebody else’s tomorrow.
SO WHY WORRY UNNECESSARILY?
Change is the law of the universe

One of the many exquisite working models towards self-knowledge and self-mastery provided by the Hindu world-vision is a psychological framework through which we learn to distinguish the various features, ‘modes’ or trends that are governing our nature and universe. In the unmanifested Universe, energy has three qualities that exist together in equilibrium; these features or qualities of all natural life are called Gunas and they are namely Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas. Once energy takes form, one quality of the three predominates. But no matter which quality prevails, an element of each of the other two will always be present as well.

What are The Gunas?

Guna is a state of mind - an attitude. Attitudes are basically qualities or tones of vibration which are found in everything, especially in human. There are three Gunas, or attitudes, from which all the more subtle attitudes are derived. They are: Sattva (purity); Rajas (activity, passion, the process of change); and Tamas (darkness, inertia). The Gunas bind your spirit to the body and keeps it here. Guna is an earthly quality.

The gunas are born from Prakriti. The Divine does not reside in them but they reside in the Divine. In the Divine consciousness, they remain in a state of perfect balance. When this balance is disturbed, the manifest creation begins and beings come into existence with the combination of gunas in different proportions. Under their influence human beings cannot recognize the presence of God amidst us. Because of association with the gunas (qualities), the division of reality and unreality take birth. Thus the soul comes under the influence of the gunas. The primary purpose of the gunas is to create delusion, through desires and attachment then keep the beings under the perpetual control of Prakriti.

Sattva

Sattva, is stainlessness luminous and free from evil. Sattva is a calm, peaceful and clear energy. When through every sense in the body, the light of intelligence shines, it should be known that Sattva is predominant. If Sattva rules in a person, they always do the right thing. Sattva binds the spirit to the body with freedom, happiness and knowledge. Sattva rules by suppressing Rajas and Tamas. When goodness and wisdom are present in your whole being, flows out from your whole self - then Sattva is ruling. The fruit of good action, they say, is Sâttvika and pure. Sattvic Food is fresh, juicy, light, unctuous, nourishing, sweet & tasty and easy to digest. Give the necessary energy to the body with no toxins. juicy fruits, fresh vegetables that are easily digestible, fresh milk and butter, whole soaked or also sprouted beans, grains and nuts, many herbs and spices in the right combinations with other foods.

If the embodied one meets death when Sattva is predominant, then he attains to the spotless regions of the worshippers of the Highest. A sattvic person on death attains higher worlds and when reborn takes birth among pious people. It is hard to identify a sattvic person as they are calm, centered, compassionate and unselfish.

Rajas

Rajas is the nature of passion, giving rise to thirst and attachment. Greed, activity, the undertaking of actions, unrest, longing - these arise when Rajas is predominant. Rajas or selfish activity is seen in people who are chasing materialistic or egocentric dreams. They are full of desire, thirsting for worldly enjoyment and even at more extreme ends of the scale, fueled by competition and ambitiousness. Mostly they are rich by average standards or above. They care too much about their properties like cars and houses. They would do almost anything for money. They live selfish, greedy, restless and very active lives. The outcome of Raajasika action, fundamentally a selfish action is pain. Rajasic Food is bitter, sour, salty, pungent, hot and dry. Are quite stimulating; often times over stimulating. It increases the speed and excitement of human organism. Examples are sattvic foods that have been fried in oil or cooked too much or eaten in excess, specific foods and spices that are strongly exciting.

Meeting death at Rajas domination of life, they are re-incarnated as a person with Raajasika gunas. Raajasika persons are reborn in this mortal world, after death, they remain in the middle worlds and when reborn, takes birth in the family of those who are attached to actions.

Tamas

Tamas is dull, insensible, gloomy and dark energy. Tamas or inertia, binds the spirit by laziness, ignorance and too much sleep. Darkness, inertness, miscomprehension and delusion - these arise when Tamas is predominant. Tamas attaches you to ignorance by hiding the knowledge. Tamas dominates by suppressing other gunas; Rajas and Sattva. Ignorance, laziness, carelessness and delusion arise when Tamas is predominant. Principally ignorance crop up from Tamas. Taamasika persons, living in the lowest Guna, mostly experience misery. A Taamasika person does not do anything much in their life. They wake up late, eat and often take alcohol – may be all the day. This is a much global statement; generally they are very lazy and ignorant. They are not interested in learning anything; people often have hard time changing a Taamasika person’s mind. They neglect their duties; do not care about other people much. Ignorance is the fruit of Tamas. Tamasic Food is dry, old, decaying, distasteful and/or unpalatable. Examples are foods that have been strongly processed, canned or frozen and old, stale or incompatible with each other - meat, fish, eggs and liquor are especially tamasic. Eating too much is also Tamasic.

If a person die while Tamas rules, he sinks to lowest regions on dying and takes birth among the ignorant and deluded dominated by Tamas. They are repeatedly born as lower class creatures of humankind. Anything you do while Tamas ruling your life, the consequence will be ignorance, negligence and delusion.

The three gunas compete among themselves for supremacy while they exist in the beings. Sattva exists by suppressing Rajas and Tamas. Rajas exists by suppressing Sattva and Tamas. As well as Tamas by suppressing both Sattva and Rajas. From Sattva arises wisdom and greed from Rajas; miscomprehension, delusion and ignorance arise from Tamas. The Sattva-abiding go upwards; the Râjasika dwell in the middle and the Tâmasika, in function of the lowest Guna, go downwards.

The purpose of such an elaborate description of these three qualities in the Gita is not to encourage us to become sattvic or eliminate other qualities. The gunas whether it is sattva or rajas or tamas, are part of Prakriti and are responsible for our illusion and all suffering on earth. The Gita therefore aims to make us free from these qualities completely by making us clearly understand the nature of these qualities and how they tend to keep us in bondage and illusion. Hence one should go beyond these three gunas and attain immortality and freedom from birth, death, old age and sorrow.

The embodied one having gone beyond these three Gunas out of which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay and pain moreover attains to immortality. He who has gone beyond these three Gunas neither likes illumination, activity and delusion when present nor dislikes when they are absent. He is not moved by the Gunas. He remains unshaken, unconcerned, knowing that the gunas are carrying out their actions. Alike in pleasure and pain, Self-abiding, regarding a clod of earth, a stone and gold alike; the same to agreeable and disagreeable, firm, the same in condemn and praise. The same in honour and disgrace, the same to friend and enemy, abandon all undertakings—he is said to have gone beyond the Gunas.

The gunas are great map for navigating your way through life. When you can recognize which of these energies are at play in your life, it makes it so much easier to bring about a state of balance. A correct understanding of the three qualities of Nature is thus very essential to overcome the bondage to earthly life and attain the Supreme Self.

What is the easiest way of practicing and bringing religion into our lives? There are two broad principles governing human action. The first of the two principles is based on the attitude of GIVING. The second is based on the attitude of TAKING.

If the attitude of TAKING prevails in a society you will find its members possessed with multifold selfish demands and desires. Consequently, there is struggle, stress and strain in that society with crimes, robbery, rapes, corruption, inconsiderate selfish behaviour, becoming prevalent at national, community, family and individual levels.

Let their attitude change to GIVING. Their demands and desires drop their selfishness. Harmony, peace and happiness will reign in that very same society. The dignity of human race is founded upon the principle of GIVING. Life is to give, not to take. One ought not to demand from society. Perhaps one’s only right in the world is to give, to serve. To serve one and all. Serve the nation; serve the society, the family and yourself. This is the first of the elements of right living. We need to do service to maintain our proper spiritual well being. While the physical body resorts to service, the mind must embrace the world with love.

This is the second element of right living. All our emotions must be amalgamated into a mass of universal love. Our pleasures and pains are identical with those of our fellow creatures. This is true love. The feeling of true love arises from purity. Such purity of love upgrades us to greater spiritual heights.

Knowledge of Vedanta inculcates the elements of right living into our physical, mental and intellectual personalities. Our actions develop a spirit of true service. Our emotions get chastened with pure love. Our discrimination gains subtlety to distinguish between the higher and the lower aspects of life with the result that our attachment for the lower drops off. By maintaining these disciplines at the three levels of our personality, we live an ideal life.

There are only two types of people in this world, the one possessing a divine nature and the other possessing a demoniac disposition. Men possessing a demoniac disposition know not what is right activity and what is right abstinence from activity. Hence they possess neither purity (external or internal) nor good conduct nor even truthfulness.

Bhagavad-Gita Ch. 16, verses 6 & 7

By Sri A.Parthasarathy From his book Vedanta Treatise