THE FUNCTIONS OF THE GUNAS
The interaction of the three gunas conducts all the affairs of the material nature. First of all, they produce the building blocks of the manifested universe. Further, through their influence they are the cause of all properties and conditions in nature. Finally, they bind the living entity and condition him to the world of matter.
The interaction of the three gunas conducts all the affairs of the material nature. First of all, they produce the building blocks of the manifested universe. Further, through their influence they are the cause of all properties and conditions in nature. Finally, they bind the living entity and condition him to the world of matter.
Originating the condition and qualities of all objects
Nothing within the compass of material nature is free from the influence of the gunas.There is nothing within the material world that cannot be analyzed on the basis of the three gunas by checking the symptoms.
Material nature as we observe it commonly has different ways of being. Sometimes things are being created, sometimes things are being maintained, and sometimes things are being destroyed. A useful word in this connection (as employed by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada), is the term “mode”, which means a way of being. I will henceforward use this term for denoting the states of being characterized by the different gunas.
When things are being created material nature is said to be acting in the mode of rajas. When things are being maintained it’s in the mode of sattva, and when things are being destroyed, it is acting in the mode of tamas. In nature the things that are left over after tamo-guna finishes it’s action become the raw materials for more rajas, they get assembled, are maintained for a period (sattva) and are finally again destroyed (tamas). This is the cycle. Things come into being, they remain for a while and are then destroyed, Creation, maintenance, destruction, followed by creation etc.
Nothing within the compass of material nature is free from the influence of the gunas.There is nothing within the material world that cannot be analyzed on the basis of the three gunas by checking the symptoms.
Material nature as we observe it commonly has different ways of being. Sometimes things are being created, sometimes things are being maintained, and sometimes things are being destroyed. A useful word in this connection (as employed by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada), is the term “mode”, which means a way of being. I will henceforward use this term for denoting the states of being characterized by the different gunas.
When things are being created material nature is said to be acting in the mode of rajas. When things are being maintained it’s in the mode of sattva, and when things are being destroyed, it is acting in the mode of tamas. In nature the things that are left over after tamo-guna finishes it’s action become the raw materials for more rajas, they get assembled, are maintained for a period (sattva) and are finally again destroyed (tamas). This is the cycle. Things come into being, they remain for a while and are then destroyed, Creation, maintenance, destruction, followed by creation etc.
Binding the living entity
The word guna, as was said earlier, also means rope. Just as a rope is made by braiding three strands of hemp into one, so the three gunas combine to make a powerful binding agent which entraps the soul within the material body, thus conditioning him to repeated birth and death. This state is due to the attachment of the soul to this world, or in other words, to the three gunas.
The word guna, as was said earlier, also means rope. Just as a rope is made by braiding three strands of hemp into one, so the three gunas combine to make a powerful binding agent which entraps the soul within the material body, thus conditioning him to repeated birth and death. This state is due to the attachment of the soul to this world, or in other words, to the three gunas.