“Good and bad, which are part of the illusion created by Hari, cannot be removed without worshiping Hari. Keeping this in mind, worship Rama and renounce all desires.” (Dohavali, 127)

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हरि माया कृत दोष गुन बिनु हरि भजन न जाहिं
भजिअ राम सब काम तजि अस बिचारि मन माहिं

hari māyā kṛta doṣa guna binu hari bhajana na jāhiṃ
bhajia rāma saba kāma taji asa bicāri mana māhiṃ

1. Material quality

The basics of the spiritual science passed on by the Vedas is that the living entity is not their body. The proper identification is spirit soul. When there is a distinction, when there is a way to identify the individual amongst other things that do not represent the individual, then the state is known as “conditioned”. The soul in this case is a jiva. They can choose between spiritual life and material life.

That which is not the individual, which does not identify them, is known as prakriti. This is the material energy. Within the prakriti energy, there are different grades and conditions. This is one application for the word “guna.” The three parent-level categories are goodness, passion, and ignorance. We can think of it like different classes for travel. There is a first class cabin, a middle class area, and an economy section. Each has its benefits and demerits. There are ways to identify the type of travel.

Extend the same principle out to body types, sacrifices, knowledge, charity, and action, in general, and you get an idea of the application of guna. For the human being, it is best to strive for sattva-guna, which is goodness. Passion is rajo-guna, and it is known for endless desires. No one is ever satisfied, like when sitting at a card table in a casino. Win or lose, the player is always anxious for the next hand to be dealt. Tamo-guna, or the mode of ignorance, is the lowest mode. This is when the individual follows harmful and destructive behavior, with a glaring absence of rational thought and deliberation.

सत्त्वात् सञ्जायते ज्ञानं
रजसो लोभ एव च
प्रमाद-मोहौ तमसो
भवतो ऽज्ञानम् एव च

sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ
rajaso lobha eva ca
pramāda-mohau tamaso
bhavato ‘jñānam eva ca

“The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, O son of Kunti, and because of this one is bound to material fruitive activities.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.7)

2. Rope

Guna can also refer to a rope. In this context, the meaning is the same as when considering prakriti. This is because any grade of living is binding. It keeps the living entity stuck in the cycle of birth and death. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita, where Shri Krishna describes the fate of those who ascend to the temporary heavenly region. Through following the mode of goodness, they earn the reward of an extended stay with the highest class amenities. The duration of the stay is commensurate with the pious credits accrued. Once those credits run out, the living entity might have to return to the land of birth and death.

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्ग-लोकं विशालं
क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्य-लोकं विशन्ति
एवं त्रयी-धर्मम् अनुप्रपन्ना
गतागतं काम-कामा लभन्ते

te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ
kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti
evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā
gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante

“When they have thus enjoyed heavenly sense pleasure, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus, through the Vedic principles, they achieve only flickering happiness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.21)

3. Attribute

Guna in this context refers to an identifiable feature. The word is the pivot to the distinction between the impersonalists and the personalists, when discussing Vedanta philosophy. The impersonalists believe that Divinity is featureless and attributeless. The Sanskrit word is nirguna. They believe that the opposite manifestation, saguna, is but a way for people to visualize Brahman. They think that any person can become nirguna–brahman, as that is their original identity.

The personalists say that nirguna and saguna are but different states relative to the understanding of the limited individual. It is like the sun setting and rising. The position of the sun does not change. When it sets at night, it does not lose its existence. In the same way, nirguna simply refers to the lack of binding qualities in the Almighty. He is already everywhere through His unmanifest feature, which is also known as the avyakta-murti.

मया ततम् इदं सर्वं
जगद् अव्यक्त-मूर्तिना
मत्-स्थानि सर्व-भूतानि
न चाहं तेष्व् अवस्थितः

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ
jagad avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni
na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ

“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.4)

Nevertheless, God is always a distinct person. He shows the saguna form for our benefit, since we have a difficult time understanding what transcendental features are. Even as the saguna child known as Krishna, the Supreme Lord can lift mountains, take down heavy whirlwinds, and suck the life out of a poisonous witch. This means that those gunas are not ordinary or binding.

“The individual soul in the body of a baby cannot show the full power and potency of a grown man, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, even when lying on the lap of His mother as a baby, could exhibit His full potency and power by killing Putana and other demons who tried to attack Him. Therefore the spiritual potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is said to be eka-rasa, or without change.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Volume 2, Chapter 32)

4. Good

In this context, the word guna is paired alongside dosha. Taken together, guna and dosha are like the pairs we are likely familiar with: right and wrong or good and bad. Lakshmana, the esteemed younger brother of Shri Rama, references guna and dosha when describing how results to activities manifest. Whether guna or dosha, the original cause is always some kind of action. Therefore, if we want to see an outcome, we have to take action.

अदृष्टगुणदोषाणामध्रुवाणां तु कर्मणाम्
नान्तरेण क्रियां तेषां फलमिष्टं प्रवर्तते

adṛṣṭaguṇadoṣāṇāmadhruvāṇāṃ tu karmaṇām
nāntareṇa kriyāṃ teṣāṃ phalamiṣṭaṃ pravartate

“Unseen and indefinite are the good and bad reactions of fruitive work. And without taking action, the desired fruits of such work cannot manifest.” (Lakshmana speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 66.17)

Goswami Tulsidas references the pair when describing the means of escape from the material world. He says that guna and dosha are created by Hari. Only Hari can remove the illusion from that duality. In other words, we should rise above pious and impious. We should strive for transcendence. This is difficult to comprehend, and so we always need the assistance of Hari.

5. Transcendental glories

In this context, the recommendation is “guna gao.” The acharyas ask us to sing the transcendental glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Though there are gunas, in the sense of names, forms, attributes, and pastimes, everything is transcendental. This applies only to God. This again underscores that gunas are different for Him. The property extends to devotion, in works dedicated in His honor. That means that although we find certain features and experiences to be binding, they can change in nature if we transition to devotional life. We can sing and hear, chant and dance, and still be above the material world: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Don’t squander the chance,
To sing and dance.

Or to write and read,
In transcendence proceed.

Because gunas different to find,
Not like ropes to bind.

As glories infinitely pronounced,
In bhakti our intentions announced.

Categories: the five

Tags: dailyprompt, guna, hare krishna, hari, poem, poems, poetry, sanskrit