Jai Gurudev

Jai Shri Krishna

Lord's primordial Nature (known as the great Brahman) is the womb of all creatures. In that, Lord
places the seed of life. All beings are created from that union of Matter and Spirit. Prakriti or Nature is
the mother, and Lord is the seed giving father of all embodied beings born in various species. (14/3-4).

The three Gunas are born of nature, and these three tie down the soul to the body. (14/5) They cause the
body (14/20)
One should not be disturbed by the three Gunas, and must know that it is only the Gunas (in the shape
of mind, senses etc.) that move among the gunas (objects of perception), and must try, through
equanimity of mind, to rise aboe the three gunas. (14/23)
Even through exclusive Bhakti yoga, one can transcend the gunas. (14/26)
There is no being on earth, or among the gods in heaven or anywhere else who is free from these gunas.
(18/40).
To see the ultimate truth, one needs to see that these three Gunas are the only doers, not the self. Nature
operates on its own through the mode of these gunas. The self (soul) does not perform any action,
because God, and the soul which is a part thereof, are beyond these Gunas and Prakrit.

Sat-guna (Sattvik) Rajo-guna (Rajsik) Tamo-guna (Tamsik)

Characteristic immaculate, illuminating, Passion, born of desire Deluder of all who
(14/6) flawless. attachment,. think body as self. Born
of ignorance.

Impact (14/11) Light and discernment dawn in
the body, mind and senses. It
binds through attachment to
happiness & knowledge. It
draws one to Joy. Sattvic acts
gives faultless fruits of joy,
wisdom and dispassion.
Sattvic men go upwards.
Greed, activity, actions
with interested motive,
restlesness, and thirst for
enjoyment appear. Binds
through attachment to
actions & their fruits.
Draws to actions which
give fruit of sorrow. Rajsik
men stay in middle.
clouds wisdom, binds soul
by impelling one to error,
sloth & sleep. Obtuseness
of mind and senses,
disinclination to perform
obligatory duties, frivolity
& stupor appear. Tamsic
acts yield the fruit of
Ignorance. Tamsik men
sink down.

After death with a Soul obtains stainless ethereal Soul is born among those Soul is reborn in species
predominating worlds (heaven etc.) attained attached to action of deluded creatures such
Guna (14/14) by men of noble deeds. as insects, beasts etc.

Men (17/4) Worship gods worship demigods/demons worship spirits/ghosts

Foods (17/7) Are juicy, succulent,
substantial & naturally
agreeable. Promote longevity,
intelligence, vigour, health,
happiness & cheerfullness.
Are bitter, sour, salty, Ill cooked/not fully ripe,
overhot, pungent, dry & insipid, putrid, stale &
burning. Cause suffering, polluted, impure.
grief & sickness.
Sacrifice (17/11) Offered as ordained by
scriptural injunctions,
without expecting return,
with the belief that it must
be performed.
Penance (17/17) Three-fold* penance
performed with supreme
faith by Yogis without
expecting return.
Charity (17/20) Gift bestowed with sense of
duty, on him from whom no
return is expected, at
appropriate time and place,
to a deserving person.
Renunciation Prescribed duty which is
(18/4) performed simply as kartavya,
giving up attachment & fruits.
No aversion for actions
leading to bondage, no
attachment to actions giving
punya. Sattvic renunciation is
true renunciation
Knowledge (18/20) that by which man sees one
divine existence undivided in
all beings.
Action (18/23) Actions ordained by
scriptures, done without sense
of doership, with no
attachment or aversion of any
kind, seeking no return.
Offered for the sake of
mere show or with an
eye to its fruits.
Austerity for sake of
renown, honor or
adoration, for other
selfish gains, done
either in sincerity or
ostentation, which
yields uncertain and
momentary fruit
Bestowed in grudging
spirit with objective of
getting service in return
or with the hope of
getting reward
Giving up duties for fear Giving up prescribed
of physical strain, thinking duties through ignorance
that all actions are painful.
There is no fruit of such
renunciation.
by which man sees many
existences of various kinds
as apart from one another
in all beings.
Actions which involve
much strain, seeking
enjoyment, done by man
full of egotism.
Which is not in
conformity with the
scriptural injunctions, in
which no food is
offered, no sacrificial
fees (dakshina) is paid,
performed without the
chant of sacred hymns,
devoid of faith.
Performed out of
foolish notion and
accompanied by self-
mortification, intending
to harm others.
Gift made without good
grace in disdainful
spirit, out of time and
place to underserving
persons.
that by which man clings
to his body as if it were
the whole, that which is
irrational, has no real
grasp of truth and is
trivial.
Done by sheer ignorance,
without thinking of
consequences or of the
loss to oneself, injury to
others and one's own
resourcefullness.
Doer (18/26) Free from attachment
unegoistic, with firmness and
zeal, equanimous in success
and failure.
Intellect (18/30) Which correctly determines
the paths of activity and
renunciation, what ought to
be done and what should
not be done, what is fear
and what is fearlessness,
what is bondage and what is
liberation
Firmness (18/33) Unwavering firmness by
which man controls,
through meditation-yoga,
the functions of the mind,
vital airs and the senses
Joy (18/36) That in which one finds
enjoyment through practice
of adoration, meditation,
and service to God etc., and
reaches end of sorrows,
such joy appearing as
poison in beginning, tastes
like nectar in end. Joy is
born of placidity of mind
brought about by meditaion
on God.
full of attachment, seeking
fruit, greedy, oppressive,
of impure conduct,
affected by joy/sorrow
Intellect by which man
does not truly perceive
what is Dharma and
what is Adharma, what
ought to be done and
what should not be done
By which man seeking
reward for actions
clutches with extreme
fondness virtues, earthly
possessions, and wordly
enjoyments
Delight which follows
from contact of senses
with their objects is
eventually poison-like,
though appearing at first
as nectar.
lacking piety & self
control, uncultured,
arrogant, deceitful,
inclined to rob others of
livelihood, slothfull,
despondent,
procrastinating.
Which imagines even
Adharma to be Dharma,
sees all other things
upside down-wrapped
in ignorance.
By which an evil-
minded person does not
give up sleep, fear,
anxiety, sorrow, and
vanity as well.
Delight which stupefies
the self during its
enjoyment as well as in
the end, derived from
sleep, indolence and
obstinate error.

*Three fold Mind- cheerfullness of mind, Body - worship Gods, Speech - Words which
penance (17/14-16) placidity, habit of brahmanas, guru, elders & cause no annoyance to
contemplation on God, control wise men. Purity, others, truthful, agreeable,
of mind, perfect purity of inner straightforwardness, beneficial. Study of vedas
feelings continence, non-violence & shastras, chanting
divine name.
NOTES:
1)Steadfastness in sacrifice, penance and charity is SAT, if done without faith, is ASAT

2)Sanyasa giving up sakaam karma and nishiddha karma completely, and giving up only the fruits of
kartavya karma. (18/2-7)

3) All actions contain a measure of evil, so should be given up except sacrifice, charity, penance
because they purify, other duties too without desiring return must be performed 18/6)