Guna

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The term Guna ( Sanskrit , m., गुण, guṇa , originally: cord, thread; later: property, quality) or Triguna describes, according to the philosophical concept of the Indian Samkhya, the qualities of those forces that make up the primordial matter of the Swarloka, Prakriti , is composed. This teaching was later adopted by other schools and plays an essential role in Hindu thought.

According to the ideas of the Indian philosophical system Samkhya , the primordial matter ( Prakriti ) is characterized by three essential properties or marks (Gunas): Tamas (indolence, darkness, chaos), Rajas (restlessness, movement, energy) and Sattva (clarity, goodness, harmony) .

Gunas in the Bhagavad Gita

In addition to other Hindu scriptures , the Bhagavadgita goes into detail in the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters on the Gunas and describes their elementary importance for human thought and action. She names three kinds of belief ( Shraddha ), three kinds of food, three kinds of sacrifice, three kinds of penance or asceticism ( tapas ), and the three kinds of mercy in giving gifts ( Dāna ).

Krishna first names the three types of belief and how these are influenced by the Gunas.

  1. People who have sattva worship the gods.
  2. People who predominate in Rajas worship Rakshasas and Yakshas .
  3. People in whom darkness and indolence (tamas) are predominantly found worship ghosts and spirits ( bhutas or pretas).

Added to this is the group of those who senselessly torment body and soul, ruled by deception and selfishness, as well as rajas and tamas. They are considered demon-like minds. ( Bhagavadgita 17.1-6 )

The three types of food:

  1. Mild food, full of juice and taste, calming, digestible and fresh, is popular with people in whom Sattva predominates. These dishes invigorate and give energy, strength and health and bring joy both physically and mentally.
  2. Extremely hot, bitter, acrid, sour, salty, spicy foods are preferred by people in whom Rajas predominates. They cause upset the body and mind, and poor health or illness.
  3. Food that is stale and tasteless, spoiled and unclean is valued by people with a disposition to tamas. ( Bhagavadgita 17.7-11 )

The three types of victims:

  1. He who does not ask for wages and does the rites according to the instructions has a sattva-filled attitude. His sacrifice is given from the heart and for its own sake.
  2. But whoever sacrifices because of appearances and seeking divine reward has an attitude guided by Rajas.
  3. However, if a victim lacks faith and acts against the sacrifice regulations, then Tamas, the darkness, prevails. There is no meal offering, prayer of devotion, or gift for the presiding priest, and there is a lack of faith. ( Bhagavadgita 17.11-13 )

The three types of asceticism ( tapas ):

  1. When the threefold exercise (because three kinds) of asceticism is done devotedly and with an enlightened mind, with no thought of reward, sattva prevails.
  2. Rajas, on the other hand, prevails if one practices asceticism out of selfish pride or for reputation, admiration and honor. The effects of this kind of self-imposed severity will not last long because of lack of determination and good will.
  3. Tamas dominates when the exercises are undertaken for the sake of a foolish idea, or pleasure in the labor and torment imposed, or with the intention of harming another. ( Bhagavadgita 17.14-19 )

The three kinds of gifts and gifts ( Dāna ):

  1. The gift is of the sattva kind when it benefits deserving people and when it is done in the right place and at the right time; not because of past or expected benefits and advantages, but simply because of the knowledge that you are doing the right thing.
  2. The gift is of the Raja type when given in anticipation of something in return or for the sake of a reward.
  3. Giving is of the kind of tamas when the recipient is unworthy, when the time or place is inappropriate, when the motives are contemptuous and given with disdain for the feelings of the recipient. ( Bhagavadgita 17.20-22 )

history

In the earliest times it was assumed that certain properties of the elements as objects of the sense organs not only evoke perceptions, but also give the impetus for the development of sensations. In the Chandogya Upanishad , the three primordial elements were assigned certain colors: white, red and black. The Samkhya philosophy ascribed the same colors to primordial matter. In the Upanishad, however, these were three different elements; the Samkhya philosopher Pancashika, on the other hand, assumes the Gunas as three properties of a primordial matter.

However, the concept of quality as a separate category of being was not yet developed at that time, this was an achievement of the Vaisheshika system. Properties still appeared as things, as independent entities. In pancashika the gunas connect and separate, support and displace each other like independent elements. The world of phenomena such as the self-consciousness (Ahamkara, literally: “I-maker”) and the ten sense organs (Indriyani) manifests itself from the as yet unmanifested primordial matter.

Although the concept of Gunas was developed from the dualistic Samkhya philosophy, it was later easily integrated into the monistic Advaita Vedanta . Here, however, the Gunas are not assigned to Prakriti , but to Maya (illusion), which also manifests itself in the ten sense organs.

Importance for yoga

According to the doctrine of the Gunas, the lower Prakriti (nature) is made up of three qualities that are always effective in man: Sattva , Rajas , and Tamas . The mix of forces is different. One of the three forces in the person can be particularly emphasized, but the other two are always present. In a person who is completely ruled by tamas, indolence and spiritual darkness, there are always traces of rajas and occasional flashes of sattva.

According to Aurobindo , these three properties cannot be effectively influenced by the ego, since it is itself part of the Prakriti and thus part of the Gunas. Furthermore, it is said that a mastery of rajas, of desire and passion, through strict discipline carries the risk that, in addition to quiet peace, the forces of indolence develop and the positive forces of dynamism are lost.

A real influence on the Gunas can therefore only take place in yoga through the hidden Purusha (the soul). For this purpose, in a process of yoga, the Purusha must be released from the entanglements of the Gunas and position oneself as a silent observer over them.

He could then watch the "waves" of the Gunas rise and fall and learn to understand his own nature. In a second step he would then be able to influence this nature.

Krishna says about the right behavior towards the forces of the Gunas:

“Anyone who, where a 'Guna' appears to him, and therefore does not hate it, does not desire others, 'Gunas', calm and collected in spirit; Who, as it were, remains uninvolved, in the presence of a 'guna', who thinks, 'a guna is playing his game', and therefore always maintains equanimity; Who is steadfast in joy and sorrow, to whom is alike clod, stone and gold, who remains the same when one reviles him and when one pays him admiration; Who is equal to honor or disgrace, whether friend or opponent is defeated, who renounces every act, has defeated the 'properties' of power. "

- Bhagavadgita (14.22-14.25)

Others

Guṇa referred further includes a Ablautstufe classical, on Panini declining Sanskrit grammar.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Swami Prabhavananda, Christopher Isherwood; Introduction by Aldous Huxley: The Song of God - Bhagavad Gita, Mentor / Signet, Chicago . The Vedata Society of Southern California, 1972, p. 116 ff .
  2. ^ Robert Boxberger: Bhagavadgita . Reclam, 1955, p. 85 .