Source
Texts:
The
Three Modes of Nature and Beyond
Text
1
The
Supreme Lord said: 'O best of persons, try to understand this
what I say on how and by which of the modes of nature in their
pure state a person is influenced.
The
Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O best among men,
please listen as I describe to you how the living entity
attains a particular nature by association with individual
material modes.
Text
2-5
To the mode of
goodness there are: equanimity, sense control, tolerance,
discrimination, penance, truthfulness, compassion, remembrance,
contentment, renunciation, freedom from desire, faithfulness,
modesty and finding pleasure within. To the mode of passion
there are: lusts, endeavor, conceit, dissatisfaction, false
pride, the quest for blessings, separatism,
sense-gratification, rashness, love of praise, ridicule,
display of valor and hard sanctioning. To the mode of ignorance
there are: intolerance, greed, deceitfulness, violence,
attention seeking [in particular with women],
hypocrisy, listlessness, quarrel, lamentation, delusion, the
suffering of depression, sloth, false expectations, fear and
indolence. These, one after the other described, make up the
greater part of the functions of the modes; now hear of their
combinations [see also B.G. 14].
Mind
and sense control, 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. 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.
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. Now please hear about
the combination of these three modes.
Text
6
O
Uddhava, the ordinary activities in the mentality of 'I' and
'mine' are there so from their combination, just as the
activities of the mind, the senses, their objects and the vital
airs are there as a combination of them [see also
11.23:
49,
11.24:
7,
11.24:
13].
My
dear Uddhava, the combination of all three modes is present
in the mentality of 'I' and 'mine.' The ordinary
transactions of this world, which are carried out through
the agency of the mind, the objects of perception, the
senses and the vital airs of the physical body, are also
based on the combination of the modes.
Text
7
When the person
is fixed in religiosity, economic development and sense
gratification brings each of the modes intermingling to this
the faith, wealth and enjoyment.
When
a person devotes himself to religiosity, economic
development and sense gratification, the faith, wealth and
sensual enjoyment obtained by his endeavors display the
interaction of the three modes of nature.
Text
8
When a person
in family-life stands out with dedication [rajas] on
the path of material enjoyment [tamas] and later on
gets established in religiosity [sattva] is this indeed
a combination of the modes.
When
a man desires sense gratification, being attached to family
life, and when he consequently becomes established in
religious and occupational duties, the combination of the
modes of nature is manifest.
Text
9
From a person
his calm can be derived that he is endowed with goodness, from
his lust that he is in passion and from his anger that he is
caught in ignorance.
A
person exhibiting qualities such as self-control is
understood to be predominantly in the mode of goodness.
Similarly, a passionate person is recognized by his lust,
and one in ignorance is recognized by qualities such as
anger.
Text
10
When one
worships Me with devotion independent of the results should
such a man, or woman just as well, be understood as being of
the nature of goodness.
Any
person, whether man or woman, who worships Me with loving
devotion, offering his or her prescribed duties unto Me
without material attachment, is understood to be situated in
goodness.
Text
11
When one by his
duties worships Me hoping for benedictions should that be
understood as being of the nature of passion, and with the
intention to cause harm as being of ignorance [see also
B.G. 17:
20-22].
When
a person worships Me by his prescribed duties with the hope
of gaining material benefit, his nature should be understood
to be in passion, and one who worships Me with the desire to
commit violence against others is in ignorance.
Text
12
The
modes of sattva, tamas and rajas so relate to the individual
soul and not to Me; one is bound up to them as they,
manifesting in the mind, lead to the attachment to material
effects [see also
B.G. 4:
14].
The
three modes of material nature - goodness, passion and
ignorance - influence the living entity but not Me.
Manifesting within his mind, they induce the living entity
to become attached to material bodies and other created
objects. In this way the living entity is bound up.
Text
13
When the mode
of goodness - which is pure, luminous and auspicious -
predominates over the others, will a man be graced with
happiness, religiosity, knowledge and other good qualities
[see also B.G. 14:
11,
18:
37].
When
the mode of goodness, which is luminous, pure and
auspicious, predominates over passion and ignorance, a man
becomes endowed with happiness, virtue, knowledge and other
good qualities.
Text
14
When passion
conquers over both goodness and ignorance is one, then being of
attachment, separatism and change, caught in fruitive labor,
for having a good name and being opulent [see also B.G.
14:
12,
18:
38].
When
the mode of passion, which causes attachment, separatism and
activity, conquers ignorance and goodness, a man begins to
work hard to acquire prestige and fortune. Thus in the mode
of passion he experiences anxiety and struggle.
Text
15
When darkness
conquers over passion and goodness is one's discrimination
defeated, one's consciousness covered, loses one initiative and
lands one in lamentation and bewilderment, with sleeping too
much, violence and false hopes [see also B.G.
14:
13,
18:
39]
When
the mode of ignorance conquers passion and goodness, it
covers one's consciousness and makes one foolish and dull.
Falling into lamentation and illusion, a person in the mode
of ignorance sleeps excessively, indulges in false hopes,
and displays violence toward others.
Text
16
When the mind
clears up and the senses no longer distract is there
fearlessness with the body and detachment of the mind; know
that as the goodness of My position.
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.
Text
17
Passion you
should recognize by these symptoms: the intelligence is
disturbed by too much activity, one fails to disengage from
one's senses, one is not at ease with one's body and the mind
is unsteady.
You
should discern the mode of passion 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.
Text
18
Failing in the
higher functions of consciousness, spacing out, unable to
focus, to have one's mind ruined, groping in the dark and being
gloomy you should understand as being of the mode of
ignorance.
When
one's higher awareness fails and finally disappears and one
is thus unable to concentrate his attention, his mind is
ruined and manifests ignorance and depression. You should
understand this situation to be the predominance of the mode
of ignorance.
Text
19
With
the mode of goodness rising increases the strength of the godly
with the increase of passion do the unenlightened gain strength
and when the mode of ignorance increases, o Uddhava, does the
wild man step forward.
With
the increase of the mode of goodness, the strength of the
demigods similarly increases. When passion increases, the
demoniac become strong. And with the rise of ignorance, O
Uddhava, the strength of the most wicked increases.
Text
20
Know that the
wakeful state of consciousness is there by the mode of
goodness, that sleep is indicative of passion, that the deep of
sleep is there by the ignorance of the living entity, while the
fourth state [the transcendental] pervades the three
[see also 7.7:
25 and B.G.
6:
16].
It
should be understood that alert wakefulness comes from the
mode of goodness, sleep with dreaming from the mode of
passion, and deep, dreamless sleep from the mode of
ignorance. The fourth state of consciousness pervades these
three and is transcendental.
Text
21
By the mode of
goodness go persons of spirituality higher and higher, by the
mode of ignorance goes one head first lower and lower and by
the mode of passion remains one in between [see also B.G.
6:
45,
16:
19].
Learned
persons dedicated to Vedic culture are elevated by the mode
of goodness to higher and higher positions. The mode of
ignorance, on the other hand, forces one to fall headfirst
into lower and lower births. And by the mode of passion one
continues transmigrating through human bodies.
Text
22
Those who die
in goodness go to heaven, those who die in passion go the human
world and those who die in ignorance go to hell; they however
who are free from the modes come to Me [see also B.G.
9:
25,
14:
18].
Those
who leave this world in the mode of goodness go to the
heavenly planets, those who pass away in the mode of passion
remain in the world of human beings, and those dying in the
mode of ignorance must go to hell. But those who are free
from the influence of all modes of nature come to Me.
Text
23
Work as an
offer to Me dutifully done without desiring the results is in
the mode of goodness, work done in expectation of some result
is in the mode of passion and that what one does with violence
and such is in the mode of ignorance [ B.G.
17:
20-22].
Work
performed as an offering to Me, without consideration of the
fruit, is considered to be in the mode of goodness. Work
performed with a desire to enjoy the results is in the mode
of passion. And work impelled by violence and envy is in the
mode of ignorance.
Text
24
Knowledge in
the mode of goodness is of emancipation [of
enlightenment], of passion is it opinionated and in
ignorance is it materialistic while the spiritual knowledge
concentrated upon Me is considered as being free from the modes
[see also 6.14:
2].
Absolute
knowledge is in the mode of goodness, knowledge based on
duality is in the mode of passion, and foolish,
materialistic knowledge is in the mode of ignorance.
Knowledge based upon Me, however, is understood to be
transcendental.
Text
25
Having one's
residence in the forest [to be a recluse] is of the
mode of goodness, to reside among man [family] is of
passion one says, and to reside in a gambling house is of the
mode of ignorance, but My residence is above the modes [see
also 7.12:
22,
11.18:
25].
Residence
in the forest is in the mode of goodness, residence in a
town is in the mode of passion, residence in a gambling
house displays the quality of ignorance, and residence in a
place where I reside is transcendental.
Text
26
A worker free
from attachment is of the mode of goodness, blinded by personal
desire is one a man of passion, and a performer in ignorance is
he considered who fell away from the remembrance [see
11.22:
38-39]; he
who has taken shelter of Me [though] is free from the
modes.
A
worker free of attachment is in the mode of goodness, a
worker blinded by personal desire is in the mode of passion,
and a worker who has completely forgotten how to tell right
from wrong is in the mode of ignorance. But a worker who has
taken shelter of Me is understood to be transcendental to
the modes of nature.
Text
27
Of the soul is
the faith in goodness, but of passion is the faith in fruitive
action; irreligion is of the mode of ignorance, but that faith
which is in service of Me is transcendental to the
modes.
Faith
directed toward spiritual life is in the mode of goodness,
faith rooted in fruitive work is in the mode of passion,
faith residing in irreligious activities is in the mode of
ignorance, but faith in My devotional service is purely
transcendental.
Text
28
Beneficial,
pure and attained effortlessly is food considered as of the
mode of goodness, [strongly] catering to the senses is
it of the mode of passion and of ignorance considers one impure
foodstuffs which make one suffer [see also B.G.
17:
7-10].
Food
that is wholesome, pure and obtained without difficulty is
in the mode of goodness, food that gives immediate pleasure
to the senses is in the mode of passion, and food that is
unclean and causes distress is in the mode of
ignorance.
Text
29
Happiness
derived from the soul is of the mode of goodness but generated
from sense objects is it of passion; of the mode of ignorance
is the happiness derived from delusion and depravity, but the
happiness free from the modes is found in Me [see
11.15:
17 & B.G.
5:
21, but also
6:
7].
Happiness
derived from the self is in the mode of goodness, happiness
based on sense gratification is in the mode of passion, and
happiness based on delusion and degradation is in the mode
of ignorance. But that happiness found within Me is
transcendental.
Text
30
And so do all
these of the substance, the place, the fruit, the time, the
knowledge, the activity, the performer, the faith, the state of
consciousness and the species and destinations of life belong
to the three gunas.
Therefore
material substance, place, result of activity, time,
knowledge, work, the performer of work, faith, state of
consciousness, species of life and destination after death
are all based on the three modes of material nature.
Text
31
All states of
existence, whether seen, heard or imagined with the
intelligence, are, composed of the gunas, established and
maintained by the enjoyer subtle of nature, o best among men
[see also linga].
O
best of human beings, all states of material being are
related to the interaction of the enjoying soul and material
nature. Whether seen, heard of or only conceived within the
mind, they are without exception constituted of the modes of
nature.
Text
32
The individual
by whom, o gentle one, these modes of nature are conquered -
that connected with the karma as the successive states of
existence of a living being as [these three groups of]
qualities manifest in the mind - attains, in bhakti-yoga
dedicated to Me, by the love he has for Me.
O
gentle Uddhava, all these different phases of conditioned
life arise from work born of the modes of material nature.
The living entity who conquers these modes, manifested from
the mind, can dedicate himself to Me by the process of
devotional service and thus attain pure love for Me.
Text
33
Therefore
should, having obtained this body, this source of knowledge and
wisdom, the clever ones in worship of Me shake it off to
partake of the modes.
Therefore,
having achieved this human form of life, which allows one to
develop full knowledge, those who are intelligent should
free themselves from all contamination of the modes of
nature and engage exclusively in loving service to
Me.
Text
34
The sage, the
man of learning, should, free from the partaking of,
unbewildered having subdued his senses, in service of the
goodness conquer the passion and the ignorance.
A
wise sage, free from all material association and
unbewildered, should subdue his senses and worship Me. He
should conquer the modes of passion and ignorance by
engaging himself only with things in the mode of
goodness.
Text
35
Being connected
should he also, free from depending on it, conquer the goodness
so that he, with his intelligence pacified in being liberated
from the gunas, as an individual soul giving up on the cause of
his being conditioned, achieves Me.
Then,
being fixed in devotional service, the sage should also
conquer the material mode of goodness by indifference toward
the modes. Thus pacified within his mind, the spirit soul,
freed from the modes of nature, gives up the very cause of
his conditioned life and attains Me.
Text
36
The living
entity as an individual soul by Me thus liberated from the
modes of nature that nestled in his mind is so complete by the
Absolute Truth and should wander nor to the internal nor to the
external [of life anymore].'
Freed
from the subtle conditioning of the mind and from the modes
of nature born of material consciousness, the living entity
becomes completely satisfied by experiencing My
transcendental form. He no longer searches for enjoyment in
the external energy, nor does he contemplate or remember
such enjoyment within himself.
*
The word nature can be taken literally too as the modes in the
sense of the seasons and their belonging primary demigods.
Krishna says that Vishnu, who is the original controller above
the modes, the best of the gods [10.89:
14-17],
is of the goodness [11.15:
15],
the purest mode [B.G. 14:
6],
leading to the godlyness of Him [B.G. 14:
14]
and that of the seasons He is the season of spring [B.G.
10:
35].
As such is autumn/spring His season of balance and of the mode
of goodness. The same way is the inertia of cold representative
for the mode of ignorance ruled by S'iva and the hyperactivity
and heat of the summer a display of the mode of passion ruled
by Brahmâ.
