न तदस्ति पृथिव्यां वा दिवि देवेषु वा पुनः ।
सत्त्वं प्रकृतिजैर्मुक्तं यदेभिः स्यात्त्रिभिर्गुणैः ॥ १८.४० ॥

na tad-asti pṛthivyām vā divi deveṣu vā puna: |
sattvam prakṛtijair-muktam yad-ebhi: syāt-tribhir-guṇai: || 18.40 ||

Three-fold aspect of Nature

From verses 18 through 39, Krishna has been delineating the guṇatraya divisions in the subjective level of human personality. For this, he brought concepts like knowledge, knower, knowable, karma and kartā. He also discussed intelligence, will and happiness, bringing them under the same three-fold categorization. Before taking up the “objective aspect of the guṇas”, Krishna makes a summary statement, declaring that guṇa-traya is something that none can get out of.

As mentioned earlier, this part of Krishna’s enunciation is quite unique, powerful too. For him, everything – the whole creation – is sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika. Ultimately, the spiritual pursuit and fulfillment is to recognize these three and remain unruffled by them.

Neither upon the earth nor in the heaven and amongst the gods can there be anything freed from the essence of these three guṇas, born of prakṛti.

What an absolute, categorical statement! Krishna first made reference to the “guṇas” in the 2nd chapter itself, while introducing the theme and pursuit of Karma-yoga. There he showed how relevant and indispensable is Karma-yoga, when compared to the acclaimed Vedic rituals and ceremonies, which promise great rewards after one drops his body.

Ephemerality of results of religious ceremonies

Vedas, he says, make very flowery and alluring statements and revelations. On hearing them, one generally gets fascinated. The response to them is mostly emotional, not intelligential, rational or well-thought out. It is a fact that Vedic exhortations on rituals are such as to rob the human of his power of discrimination. To accept the ritualistic statements exclusively will be virtually to mortgage one’s intelligence (2.42, 43, 44).

Krishna warned against such religious or ceremonial pitfalls and distractions. To drive home the point, he showed that Vedas have nothing great or lasting to offer in the way of elevation or enduring happiness. It is in this context that Krishna presented the guṇas of prakṛti and their dominance.

All the spheres of glory as promised by Vedic rituals and ceremonies are within the range of guṇas and hence subject to natural defects and ephemerality. Krishna, therefore, tells Arjuna: “Know that the Vedas come within the range of guṇas. I want you to rise above dual effects of guṇas.” (2.45)

If one takes to the path of wisdom and transcendence, then he will have no further need for any kind of ritualistic rewards at all. Krishna illustrates how self-sufficient spiritual wisdom is. It is like a massive flood. In such a state, inundated with water everywhere, will one have any need for a well, tank or lake (2.46)? Vedic rituals will have no relevance in the context of spiritual wisdom and excellence that Karmayoga implies.

The thought of any higher abode, like the heavens, thus becomes meaningless. What one has to do is to understand this fact rightly as early as possible, and seek spiritual fulfillment from his own inmost imperishable Soul, a subject Krishna has been exposing all along.

Beyond the three guṇas

Yoga or spiritual pursuit is always aimed at gaining fulfillment here and now. Once the seeker grasps this truth, it will instantly lift his mind above the usual attractions, repulsions and fears, which life here or hereafter causes. Sukṛta and duṣkṛta (virtue and vice), sukha and duḥkha (pleasant and unpleasant) – all these are parallel. Krishna advises a stern indifference towards these pairs of opposites – the one theme of Bhagavad Gita.

Do not aspire to gain heaven after death. Do not rely upon the promised glory of any kind of higher life hereafter. While denying the declared heavens and heavenly life, Krishna shows how hollow and futile they are in reality.

Next reference to “guṇas” Krishna makes, is in the 3rd chapter. Explaining that all activities are outcomes of the guṇas of prakṛti, he says that it is a sheer delusion to say: “I am doing”. Let the activity be physical, bodily and sensory, or subtle, oral and mento-intellectual. All are equally pulsations caused by the guṇas. But for prakṛti’s guṇas and their influences, nothing would move in the world at all (3.27). There is no question of anything being done anywhere except by prakṛti through the three guṇas.

Inclusion and involvement of guṇas in prakṛti is indispensable. What is the way of spiritual redress then? Krishna has always held that beyond and beneath the prakṛti, its guṇas, reigns the sovereign pedestal of Impersonality and non-involvement. True spiritual wisdom consists in understanding the indispensable force of prakṛti and yet the presence of the Soul beyond it (13.29). It is this great “Soul-wisdom” that has the power to make one free, spiritually crowned.

When referring to māyā also, Krishna has said that māyā is beyond control. Māyā is the Inscrutable Power, a character and property of the supreme Reality, Brahman. Though it is so, its operation verily consists of the three guṇas – sattva, rajas and tamas. But, surely, those who seek and rely upon the supreme Reality in all exclusiveness, can overcome māyā and its effect (māyām-etām taranti te – 7.14).

This statement also underscores how comprehensive and effective are the guṇas and their powerful influences. The māyā brought about by guṇas deludes the entire creation. Despite this fact, everyone still has the hope of redemption, through spiritual wisdom. Wisdom works quite inwardly, to undo all the effects guṇas bring about.

In the 14th chapter, Krishna refers to the guṇātīta – one who remains unaffected by the effects of three guṇas. Each guṇa will have its influence and even domination for a time, in any individual. But the other guṇas also have their prevalence. Thus, they go on alternating. It is like the three states – wakefulness, sleep and dream. The difference is that one can be in only one of the states at one time, whereas, the three guṇas will be present together all the time. Their proportions alone make the difference.

The spiritually Enlightened One, the tattva-jñānin, has the depth and loftiness to remain impersonal, free and transcendent (14.23). Self-realization has deeper imports. Wisdom is the most profound coordinate in the human. Its place and power are verily ineffable.

Krishna’s words are significant and powerful indeed. They take the seeker’s vision, sense of judgement and evaluation beyond the sensory activities and impressions. Delve into your own within and go beyond mere thoughts, emotions and introspections. Reach that source from which the ego and its possessive notes emanate. Get at that Impersonal, Absolute, supra-material pedestal. There, no action emerges and no consequences befall!

That is where you have to abide inwardly. That is the level of non-doership, non-actorhood. Feel the freedom and transcendence that shine there.

What generally people regard as the “doer”, is nothing but the guṇas of prakṛti. Guṇas alone are the cause and media of activity. Their presence and effects are inevitable as well as inescapable. At the same time, they are ineffective in touching or tormenting that transcendental level, which is beyond them. Like the centre of a revolving circle, it is this transcendental core that makes the circle of guṇas revolve. As true are the guṇas, so is the level beyond them as well.

This is the truth that a spiritual seeker must access and realize with all force and intensity. One who has had this inmost realization becomes a guṇātīta. Guṇātīta is a state that the Self bestows on the seeker, even while the guṇas remain functional. The effects of the guṇas are not to be suppressed, but only transcended.

Spirituality is never an attempt at negation, exclusion or disinvolvement. It is, on the other hand, the means and excellence of acceptance, inclusion and involvement. The Kurukṣetra scene itself illustrates this. Arjuna feared the involvement and wanted to flee. Krishna denies such a step, disapproves it. It is thus to steer oneself into the right path, and prevent escaping from reality, that spiritual wisdom becomes effective and indispensable.

Krishna says that none within the entire creation is bereft of the three guṇas and their multiple effects. Neither earth nor heavens nor still the other regions are excluded from the bondage of guṇas. Naturally, the different consequences that these necessitate will also be inevitable. The seeker has to enhance his viveka and elevate himself.

Krishna’s enunciation of the three guṇas – their distinct properties, how they constitute the entire Nature, their full-fold expression in the whole creation, together with the perishable and elusive qualities – makes a complete vision and philosophy by itself.

The guṇas, Krishna explains, represent properties of Nature, which belongs to, and is presided over by the supreme Reality, Brahman. Sattva represents light, knowledge and happiness. Rajas denotes activities and traits like desire, passion, ego and the rest. Tamas signifies sleep, lethargy and ignorance. Sattva, rajas and tamas also extend to the three states of consciousness we have, namely wakefulness, dream and sleep. Wakefulness is a display of sattva, dream of rajas and sleep of tamas. Any form of being or existence anywhere is a result of these three guṇas in varying proportions.

Krishna considers the guṇas alone as māyā, the creative power of the supreme Reality. At the same time, he clearly holds that the guṇas themselves do not have any absolute expression or existence. They have no substance and hence are elusive. They do not in any way affect or involve the supreme Reality. Guṇas are supported by the Supreme; but they do not support or condition the Supreme, which is free and Absolute. However stunning their features are, they do not the least tarnish or diminish the sovereignty of the Supreme.

Transcendental influence of Soul-wisdom

The Supreme is not in them, they alone are in the Supreme – na tvaham teṣu te mayi (7.12). This statement confirms that the guṇas are illusory. It is like the dream-display and dream-objects, which, during their duration alone, are there.

On waking up, all the dream phenomena abruptly cease to be. But, during the process, the dreamer, the mind, does not cease at all. As it was earlier, it would survive later too. The emerging and subsiding part is the dream. Though the dream-display causes multiple experiences and reactions similar to wakefulness, on waking up, all those prove to be a full myth.

The same is the case with the guṇas and their display in the waking too. Think of sleep itself, which totally throws all the wakeful world and existence into a complete naught. If the visible world, including our body, were a full-fold Reality, how and why would it cease to be during sleep? So, the world is not a full and continuing expression. Like dream, it is also a myth.

As is sleep an experience, so is wakefulness. Experientiality alone gives the world some credibility. The same credibility the sleep also has. Both are equally experienced by the same individual. On this ground, both have the same status.

Similar enunciation about guṇas along with their properties can be found in Śreemad Bhāgavatam also, in a more colourful manner. In the 11th skandha, while advising Uddhava to overcome his delusion and the resultant possessiveness, which prevented him from proceeding to Badarikashrama, Krishna presented the whole culture and philosophy in an explicit and applied manner:

The One Consciousness alone shines as multiples. This is māyā, which, like in dream, has created the modifications by its three-fold guṇas.

With this unique assessment about the indispensability of the guṇas, Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, proceeds from the subjective facet of the guṇas to their objective outcome. In that relevance, he speaks about the four different kinds of activities, which adorn the people as characteristics or features. The four together constitute the complex human society, rendering it functional, viable, mutually supportive and complementary.