The Gunas and Human Behaviorby Vasudev DasThe three gunas refers to the three modes or qualities of the material world. And they are sattva or goodness, rajas or passion, and tamas or ignorance. Guna also means rope [1]. Every embodied soul is inherently imbued with these qualities in different permutations; and at any given time we are being acted upon by these gunas. These gunas are always vying for supremacy. By the influence of the gunas, even an apparently peaceful person sometimes acts passionately. Sattva or the material mode of goodness is characterized by illumination and free from sinful reactions [2]. Persons under the influence of sattva or goodness are attracted to piety and are conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge. Control of the sensory modalities including the mind, tolerance, discrimination, sticking to one's prescribed duty, truthfulness, mercy, careful study of the past and future, satisfaction in any condition, generosity, renunciation of sense gratification, faith in the spiritual master, being embarrassed at improper action, charity, simplicity, humbleness and satisfaction within oneself are qualities of the mode of goodness [3]. Learned persons dedicated to Vedic culture are elevated by the mode of goodness to higher and higher positions [4]. Lord Krishna in instructing Uddhava posits, "When consciousness becomes clear and the senses are detached from matter, one experiences fearlessness within the material body and detachment from the material mind. You should understand this situation to be the predominance of the mode of goodness, in which one has the opportunity to realize Me." [5] Rajas or the material mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings or hankering and as a result persons under the auspices of rajas are bound to material actions. Material desire, great endeavor, audacity, dissatisfaction even in gain, false pride, praying for material advancement, considering oneself different and better than others, sense gratification, rash eagerness to fight, a fondness for hearing oneself praised, the tendency to ridicule others, advertising one's own prowess and justifying one's actions by one's strength are qualities of the mode of passion. By the influence of the mode of passion one continues transmigrating through human bodies [6]. The mode of passion is discernible by its symptoms—the distortion of the intelligence because of too much activity, the inability of the perceiving senses to disentangle themselves from mundane objects, an unhealthy condition of the working physical organs, and the unsteady perplexity of the mind [7]. Tamas or the mode of darkness is born of ignorance, and it is the delusion of all embodied entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul [8]. Intolerant anger, stinginess, speaking without scriptural authority, violent hatred, living as a parasite, hypocrisy, chronic fatigue, quarrel, lamentation, delusion, unhappiness, depression, sleeping too much, false expectations, fear and laziness constitute the major qualities of the mode of ignorance. Hiranyakasyapu's anger against Lord Viñëu persisted until his death. Lord Visnu in the form of Lord Varaha or Boar incarnation annihilated Hiranyakasyapu's brother – Hiranyaksha which gave much pain to Hiraëyakaçipu. Besides, his son – Prahlada was exceptionally devoted to Lord Visnu and the anger generated by this devotion was unbearable to Hiraëyakaçipu. Other people in the bodily concept of life maintain anger only because of false ego and the great influence of ignorance. Cases of religious conflicts which abound the planet earth are typical examples of the effect of the gunas on humans which have resulted to killings in the name of God. Typical example is the Muslims and Christians religious conflict in Nigeria in 2001 wherein properties worth staggering sums of money and lives were lost [9]. The definition of ignorance is given in the Vedic literature, vastu-yathatmya-jnanavarakam viparyaya-jnana-janakam-tamah: under the spell of ignorance, one cannot understand a thing as it is [10]. For example, everyone can see that death is inevitable still people are seriously committed to ugrakarmic or horrible works or wicked acts in a superlative degree in a bid to accumulating money more and more without preparing themselves to meet death. They do not care to figure out the objective criterion of human existence, which is to attain Krishna prema or pure love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna [11]. This is the inherent nature of tamas or mode of ignorance. The mode of ignorance degrades the conditioned soul in as much as it forces one to fall headfirst into lower and lower births. When the living entity’s higher awareness fails and finally disappears and he/she is thus unable to concentrate his attention, his mind is ruined and manifests ignorance and depression. It should be understood that this is a situation where the predominance of the mode of ignorance reigns. Each of the three material modes (goodness, passion and ignorance), acting separately, causes a conditioned soul to manifest a particular type of existence. In our pristine pure state we are transcendental to the gunas or modes of material nature, being part and parcel of Lord Krishna; nevertheless in conditioned life we manifest material qualities as we are under the influence of the three gunas. In our pristine identity as pure spirit souls we have unalloyed love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. However, as we enter the cosmic manifestation or material creation, our original love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, becomes transmuted into lust for matter, in association with the material mode of passion, just like milk in contact with sour tamarind is transformed into yoghurt. It could be asseverated therefore, that the material mode of passion is our primary behavior modification agent. What a powerful change agent! And keep in mind that lust is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world which impels the living entity to act even against his/her better judgment. The interaction of the modes of material nature - goodness, passion and ignorance - facilitates our constant flux without them having to undergo any change.
The admixture of all three modes is present in the aham mameti or "I" and "mine" mindset. The ordinary transactions of this world, be it economic, social, or political, which are carried out through the agency of the mind, the objects of perception, the sensory modalities and the vital airs of the physical body, are also based on the combination of the modes [13]. Applied Vedic science asserts that the state of consciousness of parents at the time of conceiving a child determines very much the type of mode the child would be born with [14]. If the consciousness of the parents is overwhelmed by the modes of passion and ignorance, it is very likely that this will lead to a child with a bizarre mentality, irrespective of the socio economic and political strata of the parents. Obviously behavioral patterns or activities in the mundane realm are governed by the three modes of material nature. Lord Krishna advocates that His devotee must rise above the modes to be able to perform unalloyed devotional service unto Him unmotivatedly and uninterruptedly so as to ultimately have ingress into spiritual world characterized by bliss, knowledge and eternity. References1. Wolf, D.D. (1999) Effects of the hare Krsna maha mantra on stress, depression, and the gunas. PhD dissertation Florida State University, United States of America; Prabhupada, A.C.B.S. (1996) Bhagavad-gita as it is. Mumbai: Bhativedanta Book Trust.
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