THE HOLY GEETACOMMENTARY by

swami Chinmayananda

T K G NAMBOODHIRITHIRUVALLA, KERALA, INDIA

Presentation adapted from

THE HOLY GEETA, Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, July 2013

Mumbai

THE Holy GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

CHAPTER 14

GUNATHRAYA VIBHAGA YOGA

THE GUNAS (THE THREE MOODS)

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

INTRODUCTION Chapter 14 Gunathraya Vibhaga Yoga

We have been told that when the One Truth expresses through a world-of-Matter, which ishomogeneous, the multiplicity of the Universe is created. But what is the reason for the endlessvariety we see around? The explanation is briefly indicated in Verse 13.22, “The Purusha, seatedin Matter, experiences the GUNAS born of Matter”. The term Guna, here indicates not theproperties of a material, but the ‘attitude’ with which the mind functions. The psychologicalconditions under which our mind functions, are divided into three, called Gunas: Unactivity(sattva), Activity (rajas), & Inactivity (tamas). These three are found in different proportions ineach of us. So every seeker must know the nature & behaviour of these Gunas, & analyse themto determine one’s tendencies & actions under their influence. They are analysed based on thesymptoms manifesting in an individual.This chapter is an exhaustive handbook of instructions explaining the working of the subtle body& how we can readjust ourselves, when needed. Knowledge of this chapter enables seekers tomaintain a steady progress in their spiritual pursuit.

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THE SUPREME KNOWLEDGEThe Blessed Lord said:14.1 I will again declare (to you) that Supreme Knowledge, the best of all knowledges,having known which, all the sages have attained Supreme Perfection after this life.Spiritual ideas will have to be repeated many times by the teachers until they develop into strong inward personalconvictions in the student. Hence, the chapter opens with a declaration by the Lord, “Again will I tell thee”. The themeof this chapter declared here is “That Supreme Knowledge which is better than all other knowledges”. It deals withthe behaviour of man & the different influences that play on his subtle body in life.“Having known which, all the Munis have attained to the highest perfection”: A precise knowledge of the Gunas willmake the pilgrimage easier for all seekers. Muni is a man of reflection & contemplation. An understanding of theGunas, their nature & their tyranny, are preliminary information useful for all men-of-Reflection, who constantlydigest & assimilate their experiences in life, &thereby gain wisdom.“After this life”: The attainment of Perfection is promised here, ‘After this life’. Sankaracharya & others have assertedagain & again that Perfection can be gained, here & now, by any diligent seeker. So according to them, ‘After this life’means ‘at the end of our egocentric misconceptions of life’. Through right reflection & understanding, our falsevalues-of-life can end, & in the newly found ‘wisdom’, a life of better illumination & equanimity can be lived.

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THOSE WITH THE ‘KNOWLEDGE’ ATTAIN MY BEING

14.2 Those who, having refuge in this ‘Knowledge’ have attained to My Being, areneither born at the time of Creation, nor are they disturbed at the time of dissolution.The ‘Knowledge’ contained in this chapter imparts great benefits to those who utilises it properly. Such people “Attainto My Being”, says the Lord. This ‘Knowledge’ about the Gunas which bind us down to the lower plane of matteridentifications, to the ego-sense. When one gets away from the Gunas & stop their play in his mental life, getsredeemed from our limited sense of individuality, & experiences the Absolute Universal Nature. He rediscovershimself to be the Omnipresent Reality, which knows neither creation nor dissolution.

“Neither are they born at the time of Creation”: Creation is a trick of the mind & when we are no more expressingthrough the mind, & no longer conditioned by it, we cannot have the experience of any Creation. On transcending themind, we realise the Self & Its Infinite Nature. So there is no Creation or feeling of having been born.

“Nor are they disturbed at the time of Dissolution”: Having realised the Absolute Nature, in that State of InfiniteExistence, one can no longer experience either the sorrows of death or the troubles of finitude.

A thorough knowledge of the Gunas will help one to master his own mind & reach the freedom from all its moralagitations & ethical imperfections.

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BRAHMAN IS THE WOMB OF ALL BEINGS14.3 My womb is the great Brahman (Mula Prakriti); in which I place the germ; fromwhich, O Bharata, is the birth of all beings.“My womb is the Great Brahman”: Krishna explains that the entire Universe has arisen from the ‘one-womb’, which is the Mula-Prakriti, the total Nature, the Great (Mahat)-Brahma. The total-Vasanas of theworld, the ‘total-causal-body’, is the ‘womb’, which gets impregnated by the Lord. The total potentialfactor, from which the world-of-Matter emerges, is called the ‘Great Cause’, & the Universe is the ‘effect’.“In that I place the Germ”: The total potential Nature is the virgin ‘womb’, in which, when the shaft ofConsciousness penetrates, the Light-of-Awareness that consequently plays in It, is Its act of impregnation.“From which is the birth of all beings”: Vitalised by Life, the inert Prakriti becomes dynamised, grows, &manifests itself as the spectacular Universe. The total Universe of ideas & tendencies (Vasanas), whengraced by Life, becomes vigorous & expresses as the Universe created. The three Gunas control the totalNature, & are together called Maya, ‘the cause of the Universe’. The microcosmic expression of Maya isthe ‘ignorance’ which controls the Ego, while the macroscopic ‘Maya’ is under the control of Ishwara.

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MULA-PRAKRITI IS THE WOMB & THE SELF IS THE FATHER14.4 Whatever forms are produced, O Kaunteya, in all the wombs whatsoever, the greatBrahma (Mula-Prakriti) is their womb & I the seed-giving Father.“In all wombs”: In the living world, infinite varieties of beings are born & live, & replaced bymillions of new births. The birth of an organism is nothing but an expression of Spirit through agiven matter-envelopment. Every expression of life is Matter containing within it a tiny spark ofthe Spirit.“I am the Father of the Universe”: Lord Krishna, as the Supreme Consciousness, Absolute &Infinite, declares here figuratively that He is the Father of the entire Universe, who places thesperm-of-life in the womb-of-Nature (Prakriti). A ‘Field’, in itself, has no existence without theKnower-of-the-Field vitalising it. The body-mind-intellect are only so much minerals unlessConsciousness expresses Itself through them. The Spirit cannot express Itself without the Matter,like a bachelor cannot have a child unless he marries a girl. This is what Lord Krishna says herethat He is the Eternal Father, who impregnates the entire world-of-Matter & arranges the playof life on the world stage.

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THE THREE GUNAS BIND THE EMBODIED14.5 Sattva (Purity), Rajas (Passion), & Tamas (Inertia)- these three Gunas (Qualities), O!Mighty-armed, born of ‘Prakriti’ bind, the Indestructible, Embodied one, fast in the body.“Gunas born of Prakriti”: In each of us, our minds function under the influences (Gunas) born of ‘Prakriti’.The term Guna also means ‘rope’, by which, the spiritual beauty of life in us is tied down to the inert &insentient Matter-vestures. The concept of ‘Sattva’ is of perfect purity & luminosity, the opposite of ‘foul-darkness’ of ‘Tamas’ & distinctly different from the ‘dusky-colour’ of Rajas. These Gunas are born ofMatter. Produced by Nature, the ‘Field’, they generate a feeling of attachment, & successfully delude theindwelling Self, & chain It, as it were, to the cycle of birth & death.The Infinite & All-pervading Spirit can never be contaminated by world-of-Matter. In a dream, we may killmany people & our hands may be drenched in blood; but on waking, our hands will remain stainless asever. Similarly, the Eternal Life, functioning in Matter, gets, As it Were, bound to the limitations & finitudeof Matter & this delusory experience is continued as long as the Gunas bind It to & entangle It in Matter. Aclear understanding of what constitutes the Gunas & how they bind us to Matter will enable us to developa method to free us from the tentacles of our own imaginations.

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LUMINOUS SATTVA BINDS BY ATTACHMENT TO HAPPINESS14.6 Of theses, ‘Sattva’ which because of its stainlessness, is luminous & healthy. It bindsby (creating) attachments to ‘happiness’ & ‘knowledge’, O sinless one.No Gunas can be defined directly. Lord Krishna explains these Gunas by enumerating the type ofemotions that are aroused by them in the human mind. This symptomatic description is helpful to seekersbecause by analysing the emotions the operating Gunas may be identified.“Because of its stainlessness, Sattva is luminous”: When Sattva dominates our thoughts, our mindsbecome steady, luminous , reflecting ever faithfully, the Consciousness.“Free from evil, i.e. Healthy”: A sattvic mind is free from evil thoughts & egocentric agitations, & is in itsmost divine state.“Sattva binds by attachment to Happiness & Knowledge”: Though Sattva our personality becomespurified, experiencing a greater share of inward peace & happiness. But even these can create bondageon the freedom of the Absolute Self. Even a gold chain binds us. ‘Goodness’ though it frees us from evil,can also shackle us with its own limitation! An absolutely free, Perfect one is bound neither by goodness,nor by evil. Sattva binds the Infinite to Matter through the attachment to ‘knowledge’ & ‘happiness’.

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RAJAS BINDS BY ATTACHMENT TO ACTION14.7 Know thou ‘Rajas’ (to be) of the nature of passion, the source of thirst &attachment; it binds fast, O Kaunteya, the embodied one, by attachment to action.“Know Rajas to be of the nature of passion”: Rajoguna makes the mind filled with passion, whichexpresses itself in a million different urges, desires, emotions & feelings. All of them fall under twocategories, desires & attachments.“Gives rise to thirst & attachment”: “Thirst means desire, here. Just as a thirsty man pangs for water,every desire makes a person thirst for its satisfaction. Once the desire is fulfilled, a sense of attachmentcomes. Desire is our mental relationship towards objects which we do not possess, & attachment istowards what we already possess. These two cause all the strife in our life.“Binds fast the Embodied One by attachment to action”: A man under the Rajoguna, goaded by hisdesires & attachments, can never keep still but must necessarily act on endlessly earning & spending, &yet thirsting for more & more. Actions are born of passions. Passions arise from desires & attachments.All of these are symptoms of Rajas, which seemingly binds the Infinite Self to Matter-vestures through anendless array of inexhaustible actions. Though the Self is not an agent, Rajas makes it act with the idea “Iam the doer”.

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TAMAS BINDS BY HEEDLESSNESS, INDOLENCE & SLEEP14.8 But, know thou Tamas is born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings, it bindsfast, O Bharata, by heedlessness, indolence & sleep.“Tamas is born of ignorance”: Under the influence of Tamas man’s intellectual capacity todiscriminate between the right & wrong gets veiled & he starts acting as if under somehallucination. Tamas, in the human personality, binds it to its lower nature by providing it withendless misconceptions of the true divine purpose of life. This forces one to live in indolence,heedless of the higher purposes, ever asleep to the nobler & the diviner aspirations of life.There is no consistency of purpose, brilliance of thought, tenderness of emotion, or nobility ofaction in an individual who is under the influence of the Tamoguna.These three Gunas not only bring about different amounts of divine brilliance in a givenindividual but also limit the Eternal Self, in all Its perfection, to feel & act as though It is limited& conditioned by the matter-envelopments.

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EFFECTS OF THE THREE GUNAS14.9 Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Bharata, while Tamas, verily,shrouding knowledge, attaches to heedlessness.“Sattva attaches itself to happiness”: Sattva makes us attached to the inwardhappiness, arising from life fully lived. Once we experience the thrills of creativemoments in life, in whatever work we do, we never like to come out of it.“Rajas to action”: One under the influence of Rajas is passionate with hundreds of‘thirsty’ desires & ‘deep’ attachments, & is incessantly involved in efforts to satisfythem.“Tamas, shrouding knowledge, attaches one to heedlessness”: Tamas veils rightjudgement, & in the resultant indiscrimination, one is attached to wrongcomprehensions, & becomes heedless to the calls of the Higher ideals.

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ONE GUNA PREVAILS OVER THE OTHER TWO14.10 Now Sattva rises (prevails), O Bharata, having over-powered Rajas & Tamas;now Rajas, having over-powered Sattva & Tamas, & Tamas, having over-poweredSattva & Rajas.The Lord now describes how the three Gunas operate in beings at different times.“Sattva rises”: At any given time, a human personality is found to work under theinfluence of one predominating Guna, wherein the other two Gunas remainsubsided. When Sattva predominates over Rajas & Tamas, it produces happiness &knowledge in the person.“Rajas predominates over Sattva & Tamas”: When Rajas predominates, the personexperiences passions & desires, attachments & actions.“Tamas predominates over Sattva & Rajas”: When Tamas rises in a person, hisknowledge is shrouded, & he becomes heedless of nobler-duties & emotions.

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SATTVA PREDOMINANT14.11 When, through every gate (sense) in this body, the light-of-intelligence shines,then it may be known that ‘Sattva’ is predominant.A more subjective insight into the three Gunas is given in this & two following verses.“When through every gate in this body, the light of intelligence shines”: The sense-organs in our body arethe windows-of-knowledge. Through these holes, the light-of-Awareness goes out, as it were, to illuminethe various objects of the world. Thus 7 tongues of flame shoot out from the same Fire-of-Knowledge, theSelf, in us. Each beam of light, as it emerges out from each window, illumines one aspect of the world,Through the eyes the beam illumines shape & colour, through the ears, sound etc. When through all thegates, full beams come out to illumine the objects well, we are in a state of Sattva.The Consciousness, reflected in the intellect, is the Light-of-Intelligence by which we illumine the world ofideas, feelings & objects. A clean & steady reflecting medium will reflect more efficiently than anunsteady, unclean surface. Rajas creates agitations & makes the intellect unsteady; tamas creates veiling& makes the intellect unclean. Greater the Sattva, more steady & clean will be our intellect which willreflect Consciousness more efficiently & illumine objects more clearly. Hence, the Lord says here that ‘atthe moment of knowing & comprehending the world’ one is in pure sattva mode.

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RAJAS PREDOMINANT14.12 Greed, activity, undertaking of actions, restlessness, longing– thesearise when Rajas is predominant, O best in the Bharata family.“Greed, activity, enterprise, unrest, longing”: Lord Krishna lists here the most importanttypes of thoughts & motives that rise up in a mind when Rajas predominates. Greed isthe inexhaustible desire to appropriate others’ properties. Activity means here‘engaging oneself in matters which are not one’s own’. Enterprise indicates all activitiesmotivated by extreme egoism, to satisfy selfish, egocentric, desires. Restlessnessprevents the Rajasic man from enjoying quietude. Unrest is oscillation of the mind,giving vent to joy, attachment etc.Under the contagion of Rajas, the psychological being in us gets extremely persecutedby its own restlessness, resulting in endless plans, exhausting actions, agonising desires,painful longings, maddening greed & oppressive restlessness. He spreads his sorrows allaround the society, through his actions.

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TAMAS PREDOMINANT14.13 Darkness, inertness, heedlessness & delusion—these arise when Tamas ispredominant, O descendant-of- Kuru.“Dullness, inertness, heedlessness & delusion”: When Tamas predominates, the person exhibits thesetraits. Dullness is the incapability to arrive at any decision, a state when a sort of drowsiness veils theintelligence, & makes it impossible for one to discriminate between the right & wrong. This is thecondition when we sleep.“Inaction, Idleness”: The tendency to escape all responsibilities, the sense of incapacity to undertake anyendeavour & the lack of enthusiasm to strive for & achieve anything in this world is ‘inaction’. WhenTamas predominates, all ambitions are sapped. Energy is dormant; capacity is gone, & eating & sleepingalone become the person’s main occupation in life.“Heedlessness”: A person living such a life becomes heedless to any higher calls. He cannot even commitheinous acts, because, enthusiasm is needed even for evil acts.“Delusion”: He not only becomes incapable of responding to the good or bad in him, but also sinks intodelusions. He miscalculates the world, misinterprets his own possibilities & mistakes his relationship withothers.

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DEATH WHEN SATTVA PREDOMINATES14.14 If the embodied one meets with death when Sattva is predominant, then heattains to the spotless worlds of the “Knowers of the Highest”.“If the embodied one meets with death when Sattva is predominant”: Krishna now gives us anidea as to the direction in which the mental-equipment of a dead-one will move after death.This may be determined by a close observation of his mental behaviour in this life. It ispresumed that there is a continuity of thoughts in this embodiment, which is uninterrupted bydeath. Death is only another experience, which will colour the thoughts that follow it, as allexperiences in this life colour them. So our present thought pattern pre-determines the type ofbody & environment we will encounter in our next birth.“He attains to the spotless regions of the ‘Knowers of the Highest’ “: If Sattva predominates atthe time of death, then he will reach the realm of abundant joy, unaffected by excessive Rajasor Tamas- the realm of the Creator-Brahmaloka - supremely happy & extremely creative.

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DEATH WHEN RAJAS OR TAMAS IS PREDOMINANT14.15 Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those attached to action; and dying inTamas, he is born in the womb of the senseless.“Meeting death in Rajas”: If, at the time it leaves the body, the mind is under the influence ofRajas, it takes, according to its tendencies & desires, to fulfil them, an embodiment amongthose who are attached to action. The mind will seek & discover a field where it can completelyexhaust its existing tendencies.“When it dies in Tamas”: If one dies when the mind is drowned in Tamas, one reaches the lowerrealms of irrational beings such as the animal & the vegetable kingdoms.Even after having been given the best set of circumstances & environments, humans are not allequally ready to make use of them & evolve culturally. Having been born as rational beings, howmany of us behave with discrimination? A minority of us bipeds are worse than the quadrupeds.To the Tamasic, to be born in the animal kingdom is a wonderful chance to exhaust theirappetites & express fully their animal nature. Such people are born as animals to fulfil their owncherished desires.

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FRUITS OF THE GUNAS14.16 The fruit of good action, they say, is Sattvic & pure; verily the fruit of Rajas is pain,& the fruit of Tamas is ignorance.

Here Krishna summarises the facts mentioned in the previous slides.“The fruit of good actions is ‘Sattvic’ & pure”: Thought is the father of all actions. As seeds of weedsproduce only weeds, bad actions are the harvest of bad thoughts. A quiet, contented & cheerful life ofservice & devotion, of love & kindness, of mercy & compassion, indicates the ‘Sattvic’ nature of the mind.Such actions necessarily lead to inward purity. The seekers of truth, devotees of the Lord, must strive tolive ethically a pure, moral & noble life. When noble action is undertaken soon it becomes a habit & theexternal habit of discipline tends to discipline the mind.“The fruit of Rajas is pain”: Rajas is of the nature of passion, giving rise to insatiable desires & extremeattachment, which push us to unending actions. Thus, one with a Rajasic mind, entertains desires & tosatisfy them one is forced to act in the world outside to acquire, possess & to protect the possessed. Theindividual is slowly dragged into stinking pits of pain & agony, & eventual death.“Ignorance is the fruit of Tamas”: Dullness in action, heedlessness & illusion are the symptoms of Tamasin our subtle body. Tamas veils our discriminating capacity & foils our attempts at understanding & rightlyjudging the world of things & beings & the world of happenings around us.

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WHAT ARISES FROM THE GUNAS?14.17 Knowledge arises from Sattva, greed from Rajas, heedlessness, delusion & alsoignorance arise from Tamas.The functions of the Gunas are explained here:“From Sattva arises wisdom”: In the Pure, Homogeneous Self, there is nothing other than Itself for It tounderstand, It being the Undivided & Invisible One Eternal Truth. Consciousness reflected in the subtlebody is the ‘intelligence’ by which we gain knowledge of the world outside. The knower is the Spiritconditioned by the mind-intellect. When the mind is pure & serene, when there is least agitation in it, thelight reflected from it, remains steady & focussed. So when Sattva predominates, knowledge results,which eventually becomes Wisdom.“Greed from Rajas”: When the mind is seething with a constant eruption of desires, it will be continuouslyin a state of agitation, & , in its natural anxiety to pacify itself, it has to rush out into the world to procure& fulfil its endless demands, & in doing so, it expresses its greed.“ Heedlessness, delusion & ignorance arise from Tamas”: Inertia or indolence, Tamas, veils the intellect.The capacity to discriminate between the right & the wrong, & the ability to reject the wrong & accept theright, are lost for him. So he misunderstands the outside world, & compels him to expect happiness in asea of sorrow! He gets frustrated & curses the world for its imperfections.

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CONSEQUENCES OF THE GUNAS14.18 Those who are abiding in Sattva go upwards; the Rajasic dwell in the middle; &the Tamasic, abiding in the lowest Guna, go downwards.Hindu philosophy measures evolution in terms of the degree of awareness possessed by a species. Stone is at zeroevolution, next comes plants, then animals & finally human beings. The aim of human life is to go still higher, as‘denizens of the heaven’, who have sharper intellects than man, & who are not limited by birth & death and thephysical body. The ultimate state is, of course, as pure Consciousness, Eternal & All-pervading.“The Sattva-abiding go upwards”: Those who live a pure life of discrimination, clear thinking, right judgement & self-discipline, cultivate more & more Sattva in themselves. Such quiet, creative & dynamic minds evolve upwards.“The Rajasic dwell in the middle”: Those who are of Rajasic nature, with all their desires & agitations, ambitions &achievements, again & again manifest as men until they acquire the required purity.“The Tamasic go downwards”: Those who are revelling in misconceptions, heedless of the higher calls in themselves,deluded by their own lust & passion, existing in a state of drowsiness & inertness, devolve themselves into lowerforms.All these three Gunas are ‘ropes’ that bind us down to the flesh & its sorrows, the world & its imperfections. Our truerelease comes when all chains, the Gunas are snapped, & we are established in the Spiritual Experience. This processof escaping from our psychological & intellectual nature is liberation or Moksha.

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LIBERATION FOR THE SEER WHO KNOWS THE GUNAS 14.19 When the Seer beholds no agent other than the Gunas & knows Him who is higher than the Gunas,he attains to My Being.The Spirit identifying Itself with, & therefore, riding on the mind-intellect equipment, dances to the mood of the mind determinedby the three Gunas. But the moment It ends Its identification with the mind, It is completely freed from the Gunas.“When the Seer beholds”: The art of disentangling from our mind is meditation. A meditator, who is capable of doing so, will‘behold’, i.e., ‘experience Subjectively’, the state of Pure Knowledge. God is not an object to be seen, or felt, or thought of. He is theSubject that perceives through us & feels in us & thinks with us. Here ‘behold’ is used to indicate a complete subjective experience.“No agent other than the Gunas”: The experiencer of the Self realises himself to be the Infinite, & is not the agent of activities, aswas thought by the ignorant ego, but the three Gunas cause all activities. The Gunas control all our thought processes & form thesubtle body.“And knows Him who is higher than the Gunas”: The mind is a by-product of inert matter, & cannot function of its own. TheConsciousness which functions in & through the mind making it brilliant & dynamic, must be different from the mind. TheConsciousness reflecting in the mind is the ‘agent’, the individual ego (Jiva) in us, who suffers the world of the Gunas. One whounderstands that he is not the ‘reflection in his own mind’ but that which is reflected therein– something other than the mind & sohigher than the Gunas– he has escaped forever the shackles of all limitations.“He attains to My Being”: Such a man-of-Wisdom becomes the Self. Sri Krishna is talking here as the Life in every one of us, & sosays that the Seer attains to ‘My Being’. Knowing the Self is to become the Self, because there is nothing other than the Self . A‘dreamer’ cannot remain a dreamer after waking up, but realises that he is the ‘waker’.

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CROSS BEYOND THE THREE GUNAS14.20 The embodied-one having crossed beyond these three Gunas out of which thebody is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay & pain, and attains to Immortality.Identifying ourselves with the Gunas, & playing in the mental & intellectual zones, we suffer the imperfections & sorrows ofordinary life. But when we transcend the Gunas, we will be free of these sorrows.“Having crossed the three Gunas out of which the body is evolved”: The three Gunas are the expressions of ‘ignorance’ orNescience, which constitutes our causal-body. They emerge from the causal-body to express themselves as the subtle-body,expressing as qualities of our thoughts & feelings, & again as the gross-body to express themselves as good, bad or indifferentactions. Each body,- plant, animal or man- is the exact instrument given for the full expression of its subtle body. Hence , those whohave gone beyond the Gunas are no more under the tragedies of the subtle & causal bodies.“The embodied one is freed from birth, death, decay & pain”: Matter changes forever & these changes have been systematised intodefinite stages, like birth, growth, decay, disease & death. They are common to all bodies. Each one is a packet of pain, but disease istyrannical & death is terrible! All these sorrows belong to Matter & not to Consciousness that illumines them. One who has realisedhimself to be the Awareness, transcends all these sorrows. The Consciousness illumines the various changes in our matter-envelopment, but they do not affect the Spirit.“And attains to Immortality”: The man of realisation does not experience the sorrows & lives in the positive joy of perfection. Indeep sleep we forget all the sorrows of the body, but on waking, they come back. But the Bliss experienced in Realisation ispermanent, unlike the deep sleep. The Realised one experiences the Changeless Infinite Nature of the Self, permanently, & thusbecomes Immortal even while living in the very same embodiment.

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ARJUNA’S DOUBT ABOUT ONE BEYOND GUNAS14.21 Arjuna said: What are the marks of him who has crossed over thethree Gunas, O Lord? What is his conduct, & how does he go beyond thesethree Gunas?In the Hindu system of teaching, every disciple has the full freedom to ask questionsin order to understand properly the logic of the philosophy. Understanding alonegives rise to a true appreciation, & unless we appreciate an idea, we will not be ableto live it in our day-to-day life.Arjuna asks here three definite questions: 1) what are the marks by which a manwho has gone beyond the three Gunas can be recognised? 2) What would be, in thatstate-of-Perfection, his relationship with the world outside, & how he behaves withordinary mortals? And lastly, 3) How does such a man conquer his inner confusions& entanglements, & attain spiritual glory?

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MARKS OF A MAN WHO TRANSCENDS THE GUNASThe Blessed Lord said:14.22 Light, activity, & delusion, when present, O Pandava, he hates not, nor longs forthem when absent.Lord Krishna answers the questions raised by Arjuna. The distinguishing marks of a man transcending theGunas is given here.“Light, activity, & delusion, when present, he hates not”: These three are the effects of the three Gunas,Sattva, Rajas, & Tamas. Their presence within him, does not create in him either any special attachmentnor any particular aversion. He is not affected by any of these effects & maintains equanimity.“Nor longs for them when absent”: Not only has he any particular attachment for them, but also he is notall worried by their absence, because he has risen above these three Gunas. They have nothing to offerhim which he has not already gained!Thus, a man who has extricated himself from the entanglements of the Gunas, has transcended fully theequipment of the mind & intellect & lives the infinite joy of the Self. Ever steady & balanced, he livesbeyond all storms & clouds in a realm of unbroken peace & brilliance.

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ONE BEYOND GUNAS14.23 He who, seated like one unconcerned, is not moved by the ‘Gunas’, who, knowing that the ‘Gunas’ operate, is self-centred & swerves not.

This is the second of the three Verses by which the Lord describes the relationship that a man-of-Perfection (beyondGunas) maintains with the things & beings of the world.

“He who, seated like one unconcerned, is not moved by the Gunas”: In all his experiences in the world, he isunconcerned, since he knows that it is the play of the mind & intellect. This does not means that he is totallyunconcerned with the happenings of the world, but he only ‘looks like’ one unconcerned. This means that under anycircumstances, he does not become emotional.

“Who. Knowing that the Gunas operate”: He understands that the changes in his own inward personality are all nothingbut the kaleidoscopic changes in the Gunas & that the world outside changes according to one’s mental conditions. Helives, ever fully aware of the technique behind the changes in himself & in the world around him.

“Is Self-centered & swerves not”: In order to watch the play of the three Gunas in himself, he should be an observerfrom beyond the Gunas. Established in his Pure Spiritual Nature, he is able to observe detachedly & enjoy the play ofthe Gunas in himself & in the world around him. He swerves not from his consummate equilibrium, & ever remainsestablished in his own Divine Nature.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

HE DWELLS IN THE SELF, BEYOND DUALITIES14.24 Alike in pleasure & pain; who dwells in the Self; to whom a clod of earth, aprecious stone, & gold are alike; to whom the dear & the not-dear are the same; thesame in censure & praise; & firm.One who has gone beyond the three Gunas lives in a kingdom of his own, where Gunas do not interfere with his life.“Who dwells in the Self”: Such a man becomes the Self, just as a dreamer, upon waking becomes the ‘waker’. Established inSupreme Wisdom, the world that is contracted from the levels of the body, the mind & the intellect does not touch him.“Alike in pleasure & pain”: All the inputs from the outside world result in pleasure or pain, & these feelings change with time or ourmental state. These are illusions created by our mind & intellect, & are not the inherent quality of the outside objects. One who isnot looking at the objects through the coloured vision of our mind & intellect, does not feel any difference like pleasure & pain.“Regarding a clod of earth, a precious stone & gold alike”: Possession of things is another appetite of ignorant people. But for anawakened man-of-Wisdom, all the possessions are one& the same, & of no significant value.“The same towards dear & non-dear things”: Love & hate, dear & not-dear are all our reactions to agreeable or disagreeable natureof things or situations. These are mental reactions. The man-of-steady-Wisdom is not disturbed by the onslaught of things &circumstances of the world.“The same in censure & in praise”: He remains unaffected by censure or praise by others. The joys & pains in the dream cannotaffect the person who has woken up. Awakened from the delusions of the world, the man who has crossed the Gunas, finds censure& praise utterly insignificant.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

MAN CROSSED BEYOND GUNAS14.25 The same in honour & dishonour, the same to friend & foe, abandoning allundertakings—he is said to have crossed beyond the Gunas.Lord Krishna concludes here His description of a man who have crossed beyond Gunas.“The same in honour & dishonour”: The sense of equanimity in honour & dishonour is one of the definite signs ofperfection attained. A man of vision is not afraid of life & its rewards, because he is beyond egoistic evaluations.Honour & dishonour are evaluations of the intellect that change from time to time & place to place. To one who hastranscended ego, both look the same.“The same to friend & foe”: To one who has risen above the Gunas, there is no foe in the world; nor is he attached toanyone in friendship. Another, other than myself alone can claim enmity or friendship with me. When I have realisedthe ONENESS of my spiritual nature, All-pervading, as the Spirit, I have no relationship with the world outside; they allare ‘I’.“Abandoning all undertakings”: A man-of-God-Realisation ha no more ego in him, nor any egocentric desires. Desire-motivated activities, undertaken with anxiety to earn & to acquire, to possess & to hoard, to aggrandise & to claimownership are called ‘undertakings’. When the limited ego-sense has volatilised in the realisation of the Infinite, allego-motivated activities also end.Such a man is said to have gone beyond the Gunas. This & the last two verses give a complete picture of one who hastranscended the Gunas.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

HOW DOES ONE TRANSCEND THE GUNAS14.26 And he, serving Me with unswerving devotion, & crossing beyond the Gunas, is fitto become Brahman.Here Lord Krishna answers the question; “How does one transcend the Gunas?”.“He who serves Me with unswerving devotion”: Love for God is devotion, & our mindsrevel readily & with pleasure wherever there is love. Our entire nature is fed by ourthoughts, & as the thoughts, so the mind. To contemplate steadily upon the InfiniteNature of the Self is, ultimately, to become the Self, & end our limited ego.Contemplation upon the Nature of the Lord sincerely cannot be maintained for long byordinary mortals. To overcome this, Krishna advices us to be engaged in dedicatedservice to people, which is nothing but worship of the Lord. So the devotee, serving thesociety purifies his inner equipment, & becomes steady in meditation. Tamas & Rajasget more & more reduced, and Sattva predominates. Lord Krishna tells that “such aseeker is fit to become Brahman.

THE HOLY GEETA

T K G Namboodhiri

THE KNOWER IS BRAHMAN14.27 For I am the Abode of Brahman, the Immortal & the Immutable, of everlastingDharma & of Absolute Bliss.Lord Krishna concludes this chapter, with a forceful statement that one who serves the Supremewith unswerving yoga-of-Devotion will merge with the Supreme & will be the Brahmanthereafter.“For I am the abode of Brahman”: The Self that vitalises the seeker’s bosom is the PureConsciousness, that is the same everywhere, Immortal & Immutable, Eternal & Blissful. Torealise the Self within is to realise the Infinite Self. When life’s false identifications with thebody, mind & intellect are broken down, the Awareness of the Infinitude rises up to flood thebosom with “The Eternal Dharma & the unfailing Bliss”. Krishna, the Infinite, represents theEternal Subject, & therefore, He is the Abode of all Objects, including the concept of the Selfwhich is the Spirit that vitalises all Matter-envelopments.

END OF CHAPTER 14