WHAT IS GUNAS(QUALITIES)

  The word 'Guna' is a technical term used in Indian philosophy and for the lack of better equivalent has been inadequately translated as 'quality' in English language.The word quality ,however, indicates the inherent nature of an object,such as hot,cold,attractive,repulsive,black,white,etc.According to Swami Chinmayananda,the word Gunas signifies an influence, tendency,temperament or mode under which the mind operates and should be understood as such during this discussion.

As discussed above,the constituent components of action or Karma theory are the Knower,known and knowledge supported by understanding and the fortitude (courage) which results into happiness and sorrows.if a particular Karma or action is done for long time,then that action binds the spirit and mind and then it becomes a Gunas(habit) in a particular personality .He or she knows that smoking is bad habit and not good for the health .He attempts to leave the smoking but due to his habit(Gunas) it becomes very difficult.Here fortitude (courage or determination) of the Karma theory plays an important role.if one determines to quit,then he can quit smoking,that is Gunas can be changed by fortitude,Gunas can affect not only the bad habits but the good(Sattvic) nature also.A Sattvic man goes to pray daily in the morning to the religious place and does not pray for himself but for others and their well-being.One day his son was seriously ill and his wife advised him not to go for the prayer.But due to his Gunas(habit)he went for the prayer and when he came back from the prayer his son was dead.In Geeta ,it is stated that even Gunas which bind mind and spirit,should not be overpowered.Here again Karma theory of understanding is to be used for right action at right time.

The "Atama" surrounded by spirit ,seated in matter,experiences the Gunas born of matter.This no doubt gives a truly scientific explanation as to why the ''Atama'' when expressed through the matter manifests itself differently from expression to expression.when same Ganges water is poured into a hundred different bottles,each one will look different from the other,not because the waters are different but because of the shape and color of each bottle.They are the qualities of the bottles and belong to the glass -material of the bottles and when the same sacred water is seen through the coloured bottles,the properties of the bottles get superimposed upon the contents,the blue water,the yellow water,the red water,the green water etc.Similarly,the one eternal principle express itself in the various matter equipment as different individuals,even though the elements that constitute matter are one and the same every-where-due to the 'Gunas' born of the prakriti.The term 'Gunas' used here,indicate not the ''properties'' of the material but ''attitude'' with which the mind functions.The psychological being in every one of us comes under the influence of three different ''climatic conditions'' prevalent in our bosom(personality).These arecalledGunas;Unactivity(Sattvic),Activity(Rajas) and inactivity(Tamas).These three ,in different proportions influence the mental and intellectual caliber of every individual and these influences provide the distinct flavour in each personality.All these are always present in every bosom,but from man to mantheir proportions differs ;hence the distinct character ,conduct and behaviour of each individual.

The three Gunas function within each one of us and therefore each seeker must know the art of subjectivity diagnosing them in him self.Diagnosis is generally done through the observation of symptoms manifesting in the patient.Symptomatic treatment is one of the methods of medical treatments.Thus ,a careful understanding provides us with the secret capacity of detecting within ourselves,the most powerful tendency (Guna) that arises up to rule our mental life at any given moment.A seeker who is sensitive enough to recognize the various influences(Gunas)under which he is forced to function from time to time in the world outside ,will be able to discard all wrong impulses,immoral tendencies,unethical urges and animal passion and  keep himself safely balanced in righteous living in self -control and in serene purity.

The influences (Gunas) under which the thoughts function in each person will be considered by it only when analytical and experimental psychology has exhausted it's observation and study.The term Gunas also means "rope"by which the spiritual beauty of life in us is tied down to the inert and insentient matter things.In short,Gunas have three different influences under which every human mind has to play in such an endless variety at different moments of its changing environments.These Gunas are born of matter ,produced by nature,'the field',they generate a feeling of attachment,and successfully delude the indwelling self(Atama) and chain it as it were,to the cycle of birth-and-death,in a stream of constant change and pain .The Gunas have no separate existence as attributes inherent in a substance.All that we can say is that they are as many different mental climates in which the minds behave so differently from each other, accordingly  to their given moods,governed the predominating Gunas at any particular moment of observation.

These Gunas,like chords ,bind the spirit to matter and create ,in the infinite spirit,the painful sense of limitations and sorrows.The infinite and all pervading spirit can never be contaminated by the dreamy projections of a delusory world -of-matter.Even after murdering a dozen people in my dream,my hands,that were dripping with blood,cannot,when I wake up,carry any blood stains .while dreaming ,no doubt,the dream world of my own imaginations was real to the dreamer in me.But ,on waking up,the dreamer in me cannot have any marks left over on him from the dreams.Similarly,the eternal life,functioning in matter ,gets,AS IT WERE,bound to the limitations and quality (finitude) of matter and this delusory experience is continued as long as a particular 'Guna' binds it to and entangles it in matter.Now it becomes evident how a clear understanding of what constitutes the 'Gunas' and how they bind us to a matter will provide us surely with a character of freedom ,a scheme for getting ourselves freed from our own imaginations.

The  embodied-self(Atama),though indestructible and infinite,in its identifications and attachments with the body,feels the changes in the body as its own changes .This delusion is maintained ,in each one of us ,by the play of three Gunas in us .Now in the following let us see what are the Gunas and how those Gunas bind the spirit within  matter to create the individualized EGO-SENSE IN US.

Nothing can be defined as such-this is an accepted fact in all sciences.No disease can be defined by itself,nor can any emotion be described as such-without explaining it's symptoms and expressions,so too, no Gunas can be defined directly .In the following descriptions of a mind under the influence of each of these Gunas,by enumerating the type of emotions that are aroused in it, and it's peculiar and distinct behaviours .This symptomatic description is ,no doubt,more helpful to us ,the seeker ,because each of us can observe and analyze the types of emotions and thoughts arising in our mind-intellect equipment and determine what type of Gunas is governing us at any given time.