In this article, verses (29 – 40) of chapter eighteen are explained.   Let us see what Bhagavan Krishna had said about the threefold Intellect, firmness and pleasure.

The three-fold intellect

The intellect which shows the path of work and renunciation, the knowledge of what is to be done and what not to be done, fear and fearlessness, bondage and liberation – that intellect is sattvic or pure intellect.

The intellect by which one wrongly understands dharma as adharma and due to passion wrongly understands the actions to be done and actions to be prohibited – that intellect is Rajasic or passionate intellect.  That which elevates one and takes one to the Goal i. e-Brahman or the Self is dharma.  That which hurls one down into the dark abyss of ignorance is adharma.  In short, what is ordained in the scriptures is dharma and what is prohibited in the scriptures is adharma.  A Rajasic mind is not able to distinguish between dharma and adharma.

That intellect which is enveloped in darkness, sees adharma as dharma and all things in a perverted sense -that intellect is Tamasic (dark).  Such intellect considers the right things to be false.  It treats everything in the wrong sense.  Such intellect does not respect the scriptures.  It views all things in a perverted sense.

The three-fold firmness

The unwavering firmness by which, through yoga, the functions of the mind, life-forces and the senses are restrained is sattvic firmness – pure firmness.  When firmness is awakened in the mind, the activities of the mind, the life-force and the senses are brought under control. The senses are withdrawn into the mind.  Firmness or determination leads to meditation.  Firmness in decisions is very important for spiritual progress.

When one holds on to anything due to attachment or for reward then that firmness is Rajasic.  This firmness is not for action, but for reward/result.  He is firm to experience pleasure and wealth.

If a man does not abandon sleep, fear, grief, despair and also conceit – that firmness is called Tamasic firmness.  He is always addicted to sleep; he is indolent and sinful.  He experiences sorrow on account of his evil actions.  As he is very much attached to the body, he experiences great fear and grief. He is rude and not well behaved. He is ever discontent, always has some unknown fear in him; He concentrates more on sensual pleasure.

The three-fold pleasures

True pleasure is the pleasure of experiencing the self.  However, it can be classified into three based on the gunas.

That pleasure which is like poison at first but in the end it is like nectar- that happiness is declared to be sattvic.  That Pleasure that is born out of the mind that has realized the self is sattvic pleasure.  When one practice for spiritual progress then he has to undergo rigorous practices. He may undergo severe ordeal but, in the end, he experiences great pleasure permanently.  He has to cultivate dispassion or indifference to sensual pleasures.  However, the same individual experiences sattvic happiness when he realises union with the highest Self.

That happiness which arises from the contact of the sense-organs with the objects, which is at first like nectar and in the end like poison – that pleasure is declared to be Rajasic.  Sensual pleasure is mixed with pain, fear and sin.  Sensual pleasures give attachment. Fear and attachment co-exist with sensual pleasure. In the end, all types of sensual pleasure give pain and misery. One has to experience the result of their action in the next birth.

The action at first, as well as while performing it gives misery and pain, but still has a liking for that action – then that pleasure is Tamasic pleasure.  For example, the pleasure that is begotten by evil habits like drinking liquor, and eating things that give pain and strain to the body and mind is considered as Tamasic.

The is no being on the earth or heaven who is liberated from the three gunas of prakriti.  Only a liberated sage who has attained knowledge of the Self is free from the gunas of nature and he escapes from the cycle of rebirth.  It is the gunas which make a person to perform Karma. In a person only one Guna will be dominant. A person’s life, lifestyle, nature, profession, behaviour, habits and everything are based on his dominant guna. One cannot escape from the three gunas.  Even the animals, trees, and other being have these three gunas in them. When these three gunas are in equilibrium, there will be no creation.

In my next article, I will explain what Bhagavan Krishna had said about the dominating gunas in the four varnas.

Continued….