Three Gunas and Beyond - Uddhava Gita, Bhagavat Purana

|| Hari OM ||

In bhAgavat purANa (BP), canto 11, chapter 25, bhagavAn kruShNa teaches us about three guNa-s and tatvam beyond them. Here we have taken some verses from this chapter BP 11.25.1-36. 

This chapter is also a part of uddhava gItA, Chapter 20, verses (Uddhava gItA a part of BP. It starts with 11.5 (Canto 11, Chapter 5)

11.25.24: The knowledge of the existence of the Self (Sudha AtmaGYAna) is sattvika, that of body, etc is rAjasa, the knowledge of duality (kartA and bhoktA – jIva bhAva) is rAjasika and the knoweldge of only physical body is tAmasika, That [knowledge] which is different from above three, the knowdlge of Me (my nature), svarUpa, is nirguNa (beyond three guNa-s.

11.25.25: Living in forest is sAttvika, living in village is rAjasika, living in gambling-den is tAmasa; but living in Me is nirguNa i.e. established in Me is nirguNa.

11.25.26: To work, do karma, act with a sense of non-attachment is sAttvika, Blinded by the fruits of action, acting in such way is rAjasika, acting (mindlessly) without discriminating between good and bad is tAmasika; the one who acts by taking refuge in e is beyond the guNa-s.

11.25.27: Faith in the Self (AtmaGYAna) is sAttvika, faith in work (karma and it's fruitm kartA and bhoktA) is rAjasa and faith in adharma (athiesim, irreligion) is tAmasa; and faith in service unto Me is nirguNa (beyond guNa-s)

11.25.29: Joy which springs from the Self (by being antarmuktha – introvert mind) is sAttvika, that from sense-objects (extrovert mind) is rAjasa, joy due to ignorance and misery is tAmasa; and that which is based on Me is nirgua (beyond the guNa-s)

11.25.30: Object (vastu, dravya), place, fruit, time, knowledge, work, kartA (agent, doer), faith, state (sthiti), form of demi-gods, gods, humans, animals, etc) and goal – all these verily fall without the range of three guNa-s

11.25.31: O best of men, all emotions (bhAva-s) that are regulated by puruSa and prakriti – whatever is seen, heard, or thought by the intellect – are modifications of the guNa-s. 

11.25.32: All these which make for the transmigration of man are due to the feects of the guNa-s. That jIva (soul) who has conquered these guNa-s which are connected with mind (produced by mind, jIva), is attached to Me through the path of bhakti (devotion), merges in Me or is absorbed in Me svarUpa.

11.25.33: This human body is very rare and it is possible for humans to gain knowledge (GYAna) and abide in truth (viGYAna) with the help of human body, hence after gaining human body, the wise should get rid of three guNa-s and worship Me.

11.25.34: Therefore wise men, with the help of sattva guNa, should conquer rajasa and tamasa guNa-s. The wise should conquer his senses (by being alert and being their witness) and always worship Me.

11.25.35: With the help of [yoga of] meditation (dhyAna), one should stabilze and pacify the intellect and tendencies of mind and should conquer sattva with the help of desirelessness. By this means i.e. conquering sattva or rising beyond sattva, a man is freed from the guNa-s, gets rid of (gives up, renounces) his jIva bhAva (individual existence) and attains Me.

Note: By rising beyond guNa-s, the jIva bhAva is automatically renounced

11.25.36: Such a man (jIva), free from jIva bhAva (individual existence and hence freed from duality), is freed from the guNa-s which springs up [in mind (antakaraNa)] becomes a jivan mukta, a liberated man, such a man, firmly established in brahman, which is Me, has nothing to do with either internal (mental, emotional attachments and longing for fulfilling of sense gratification) or external (sense gratification) as he is absorbed in completeness or as he has attained completeness (pUrNatva)

|| ShrI KruShNa parabrahmapaNamastu ||

Translations adopted from 

Uddhava Gita by Swami Madhavananda of Ramakrishna Mission, Advaita Ashram, Kolkata

Bhagavat Purana, Sanskrit-Gujarati by Gita Press, Gorakhpur.