Bhagavatapurana 11.25: atha pañcaviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

11.25.1

/0 śrī-bhagavān uvāca
guṇānām asammiśrāṇāṃ pumān yena yathā bhavet /
tan me puruṣa-varyedam upadhāraya śaṃsataḥ //

The Lord said:
Listen, best of men, as I declare this: / how a person becomes characterized by the unmixed qualities.

1. The Lord said:— How man is affected severally by the gunas when they are not mixed up with one another, I shall tell thee, O best of men: carefully listen to it.

11.25.2

śamo damas titikṣekṣā tapaḥ satyaṃ dayā smṛtiḥ /
tuṣṭis tyāgo 'spṛhā śraddhā hrīr dayādiḥ sva-nirvṛtiḥ //

Calmness, self-control, endurance, discrimination, austerity, truthfulness, compassion, mindfulness, / contentment, renunciation, lack of desire, faith, modesty, charity and the like, and delight in the self;

2. Concentration of the mind (on Atman), control of the senses, forbearance, discrimination, tapas, truthfulness, mercy, (generosity), memory, contentment, liberality, (shunning what is prohibited D.), absence of greed, faith and earnestness, shrinking from what is unrighteous, charitableness, etc., honesty, docility and the like, to be delighted in felicitous feelings.

11.25.3

kāma īhā madas tṛṣṇā stambha āśīr bhidā sukham /
madotsāho yaśaḥ-prītir hāsyaṃ vīryaṃ balodyamaḥ //

Desire, exertion, pride, thirst, obstinacy, longing, division, pleasure, / enthusiasm born of passion, love of fame, ridicule, vigor, and aggressive effort;

3. Desire (passion), (Prohibited) action, intoxication (pride), thirst, arrogance, seeking after blessings, (Avarice) sowing discord, ease, enterprise, and desire for reputation, affection, fun (impudence), power, strength and striving hard;

11.25.4

krodho lobho 'nṛtaṃ hiṃsā yācñā dambhaḥ klamaḥ kaliḥ /
śoka-mohau viṣādārtī nidrāśā bhīr anudyamaḥ //

Anger, greed, falsehood, violence, begging, hypocrisy, fatigue, quarrel, / grief, delusion, despondency, distress, sleep, expectation, fear, and sluggishness;

4. Revengefulness, covetousness, uttering lies, harmfulness, begging, (cunning or fraudulence), hypocrisy, fatigue, (peevishness), quarrelsomeness, sorrow and stupidity, despondency and distress, sleepiness, hope, fear, indolence:—

11.25.5

sattvasya rajasaś caitās tamasaś cānupūrvaśaḥ /
vṛttayo varṇita-prāyāḥ sannipātam atho śṛṇu //

These have been largely described in order as the functions / of sattva, of rajas, and of tamas; now hear about their combination.

5. These are respectively the outcome of Satva, Rajas and Tamas: almost all of them have been enumerated. Now do thou listen to an account of their combination.

11.25.6

sannipātas tv aham iti mamety uddhava yā matiḥ /
vyavahāraḥ sannipāto mano-mātrendriyāsubhiḥ //

The combination, Uddhava, is the notion 'I' and 'mine'; / worldly activity through the mind, subtle elements, senses, and vital breaths is this combination.

6. Their combination gives rise to ideas, to wit, ‘I am’, ‘It is mine’, and so on, O Uddhava; all practical transaction is an effect of combination of Satva, etc., with the mind, objects, the senses and breaths.

11.25.7

dharme cārthe ca kāme ca yadāsau pariniṣṭhitaḥ /
guṇānāṃ sannikarṣo 'yaṃ śraddhā-rati-dhanāvahaḥ //

When one is devoted to dharma, wealth, and pleasure, / this conjunction of the qualities brings about faith, attachment, and wealth.

7. When a man is zealously pursuing Dharma, Artha and Kama, this combination of gunas engenders faith (earnestness), leads him to seeking after wealth or fills him with a craving for pleasure.

11.25.8

pravṛtti-lakṣaṇe niṣṭhā pumān yarhi gṛhāśrame /
sva-dharme cānu tiṣṭheta guṇānāṃ samitir hi sā //

When a person is established in the stage of a householder characterized by active involvement, / and follows his own dharma, that indeed is the meeting of the qualities.

8. When man continues to be firmly attached to the householder's life characterised by Pravritti (activity towards worldly objects) and also follows the righteous course laid down for him, there indeed a combination of the gunas is seen to be at work.

11.25.9

puruṣaṃ sattva-saṃyuktam anumīyāc chamādibhiḥ /
kāmādibhī rajo-yuktaṃ krodhādyais tamasā yutam //

One should infer a person endowed with sattva by calmness and the rest, / one endowed with rajas by desire and the rest, and one endowed with tamas by anger and the rest.

9. From Sama and other qualities one may know the person in whom Satva guna predominates: from Kama and other qualities the person possessed with Rajoguna; and from Anger and other qualities the person who is drowned in Tamas.

11.25.10

yadā bhajati māṃ bhaktyā nirapekṣaḥ sva-karmabhiḥ /
taṃ sattva-prakṛtiṃ vidyāt puruṣaṃ striyam eva vā //

When one worships me with devotion through one's own actions, without desire for reward, / one should know that person, whether man or woman, to be of the nature of sattva.

10. When the person worships Me with devotion, and free from desires, does his righteous duties, he or she should be known as a person of Satvic nature.

11.25.11

yadā āśiṣa āśāsya māṃ bhajeta sva-karmabhiḥ /
taṃ rajaḥ-prakṛtiṃ vidyāt hiṃsām āśāsya tāmasam //

When, desiring blessings, one worships me through one's own actions, / one should know them to be of the nature of rajas; and desiring harm, of tamas.

11. When, for the sake of wealth and blessings, he worships Me by doing the duties laid down for him, he should be known as a person of Rajasa nature: and he who thinks of harm to others should be known as one of Tamasa nature.

11.25.12

sattvaṃ rajas tama iti guṇā jīvasya naiva me /
citta-jā yais tu bhūtānāṃ sajjamāno nibadhyate //

Sattva, rajas, and tamas are qualities of the individual soul, never of me; / born of the mind, they are that by which the attached living being is bound.

12. Satva, Rajas and Tamas are the gunas that affect only the Jiva, but not Me: they are born of the (physical), the product of the Bhutas (five); he who under their influence forms attachments (to things created by them), falls into the bondage of samsara.

11.25.13

yadetarau jayet sattvaṃ bhāsvaraṃ viśadaṃ śivam /
tadā sukhena yujyeta dharma-jñānādibhiḥ pumān //

When sattva, luminous, pure, and auspicious, overcomes the other two, / then a person becomes endowed with happiness, dharma, knowledge, and the like.

13. When the brilliant, clear and blissful Satva puts down the other two, the person may have happiness, righteous tendencies, correct knowledge and the like.

11.25.14

yadā jayet tamaḥ sattvaṃ rajaḥ saṅgaṃ bhidā calam /
tadā duḥkhena yujyeta karmaṇā yaśasā śriyā //

When rajas, which is attachment, division, and restlessness, overcomes tamas and sattva, / then one becomes endowed with suffering, action, fame, and wealth.

14. When Rajas which leads to attachment, (the notion of) difference and fickleness, overpowers Tamas and Satva, the person gets into affliction, becomes active and seeks after glory and wealth.

11.25.15

yadā jayed rajaḥ sattvaṃ tamo mūḍhaṃ layaṃ jaḍam /
yujyeta śoka-mohābhyāṃ nidrayā hiṃsayāśayā //

When tamas, bewildered, sluggish, and inert, overcomes rajas and sattva, / one becomes endowed with grief, delusion, sleep, violence, and expectation.

15. When Tamas which stupefies, obscures and renders dull, overwhelms Satva and Rajas, the man would then experience sorrows and stupor and become sleepish, harmful and voracious.

11.25.16

yadā cittaṃ prasīdeta indriyāṇāṃ ca nirvṛtiḥ /
dehe 'bhayaṃ mano-'saṅgaṃ tat sattvaṃ viddhi mat-padam //

When the mind is serene, the senses find rest, / fearlessness fills the body, and the mind is unattached, know that to be purity, my realm.

16. When the mind becomes serene, when in the senses there is a feeling of ease, in the body a sense of fearlessness, and the mind feels no attachment, there, do thou find the Satva guna, where-in I present Myself.

11.25.17

vikurvan kriyayā cā-dhīr anivṛttiś ca cetasām /
gātrāsvāsthyaṃ mano bhrāntaṃ raja etair niśāmaya //

When the intellect is agitated through activity, the senses fail to withdraw, / the body feels unwell, and the mind wanders, perceive passion through these signs.

17. When the person becomes changed through activity and has his mind distracted and when the senses have no ease and the body is not healthy and the mind is in confusion, do thou know Rajas by the effects.

11.25.18

sīdac cittaṃ vilīyeta cetaso grahaṇe 'kṣamam /
mano naṣṭaṃ tamo glānis tamas tad upadhāraya //

When the failing intellect dissolves, incapable of grasping, / the mind is lost, and there is torpor and gloom, understand that to be darkness.

18. When the mind is drooping, fails of intellectual power to grasp anything and the mind of Ahankara is suspended, ignorance and despondency prevail, do thou understand that to be the domination of Tamas.

11.25.19

edhamāne guṇe sattve devānāṃ balam edhate /
asurāṇāṃ ca rajasi tamasy uddhava rakṣasām //

When the quality of purity increases, the strength of the gods increases; / when passion increases, that of the Asuras; and when darkness increases, O Uddhava, that of the Rākṣasas.

19. When the quality of Satva is on the increase, the strength of the gods is enhanced; that of Asuras when Rajas prevails, and when Tamas prevails, grows the strength of Rakshasas. Then senses, as leading to Nivritti, Pravritti or delusion are spoken of as the gods, Asuras or Rakshasas; or the qualities of the presiding deities.

11.25.20

sattvāj jāgaraṇaṃ vidyād rajasā svapnam ādiśet /
prasvāpaṃ tamasā jantos turīyaṃ triṣu santatam //

One should know wakefulness from purity, attribute dreaming to passion, / and deep sleep to darkness for the embodied being; the fourth state is continuous through all three.

20. One should know that wakefulness is due to Satva, dreams due to Rajas and deep sleep to Tamas and the fourth state is Atman that is connected with all the three foregoing states.

11.25.21

upary upari gacchanti sattvena brāhmaṇā janāḥ /
tamasādho 'dha ā-mukhyād rajasāntara-cāriṇaḥ //

People devoted to the Veda go higher and higher by means of purity; / by darkness they go lower and lower down to inert matter; by passion they wander in between.

21. By the force of Satva Brahmanas, i. e., those that follow the active courses laid down in the Vedas, go higher and higher (up to Brahmaloka) and by the force of Tamas they go lower down; and between them wander those (i. e. men) who are under the influence of Rajas including inanimate things (as far as the hell of darkness—D).

11.25.22

sattve pralīnāḥ svar yānti nara-lokaṃ rajo-layāḥ /
tamo-layās tu nirayaṃ yānti mām eva nirguṇāḥ //

Those who die in purity go to heaven; those who die in passion, to the world of men; / those who die in darkness go to hell; but those beyond the qualities come only to me.

22. Those that are withdrawn into Satva go to Svarga, those withdrawn into Rajas to the region of human beings, those into Tamas go to hell and those that are free from gunas go directly to Me.

11.25.23

mad-arpaṇaṃ niṣphalaṃ vā sāttvikaṃ nija-karma tat /
rājasaṃ phala-saṅkalpaṃ hiṃsā-prāyādi tāmasam //

One's prescribed duty, offered to me or performed without desire for fruit, is of purity; / that undertaken with desire for results is of passion; and that consisting mostly of violence and the like is of darkness.

23. Any prescribed action of permanent nature performed to be offered to Me, and without any desire for fruit is Satvika; that

which proceeds with the hope and wish for fruit is Rajasa and that which becomes mostly harmful or is hypocritical and so on, is Tamasa.

11.25.24

kaivalyaṃ sāttvikaṃ jñānaṃ rajo vaikalpikaṃ ca yat /
prākṛtaṃ tāmasaṃ jñānaṃ man-niṣṭhaṃ nirguṇaṃ smṛtam //

Absolute liberation is knowledge born of purity; that which is based on distinctions is born of passion; / materialist knowledge is born of darkness; and that fixed upon me is considered beyond the qualities.

24. The knowledge that comprehends nothing but Atman (shutting out all other things), is Satvic and that which is otherwise, i. e., indentifies Atman with the body and other things is Rajasa and the knowledge of the uncultured like that of children, the dumb, etc., is Tamasa and that which refers to none but Me is gnana unaffected by the gunas.

11.25.25

vanaṃ tu sāttviko vāso grāmo rājasa ucyate /
tāmasaṃ dyūta-sadanaṃ man-niketaṃ tu nirguṇam //

Dwelling in the forest is of purity, dwelling in a village is said to be of passion, / dwelling in a gambling house is of darkness, but dwelling in my abode is beyond the qualities.

25. The forest is a satvic dwelling, a village or an inhabited place a Rajasic, the gambling house is the Tamasa abode: My abode is that in which no gunas have their influence.

11.25.26

sāttvikaḥ kārako 'saṅgī rāgāndho rājasaḥ smṛtaḥ /
tāmasaḥ smṛti-vibhraṣṭo nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ //

An agent free from attachment is of purity; one blinded by desire is considered of passion; / one bereft of memory is of darkness; and one who has taken refuge in me is beyond the qualities.

26. He that does his duties with no attachments is a satvika agent; he who is blinded with passions is a Rajasa; the agent who has lost the understanding of right and wrong is Tamasa and he who solely depends upon (contemplates) Me is an agent free from all gunas.

11.25.27

sāttviky ādhyātmikī śraddhā karma-śraddhā tu rājasī /
tāmasy adharme yā śraddhā mat-sevāyāṃ tu nirguṇā //

Faith centered on the self is of purity; faith in rituals is of passion; / faith in adharma is of darkness; but faith in service to me is beyond the qualities.

27. The faith in (Paramatman, as taught in) the Vedanta sastra is satvic, that in sacrificial and other Vedic duties is Rajasa, the earnestness in doing adharma is Tamasa: (absolute) faith in My service is free from the influence of gunas.

11.25.28

pathyaṃ pūtam anāyastam āhāryaṃ sāttvikaṃ smṛtam /
rājasaṃ cendriya-preṣṭhaṃ tāmasaṃ cārti-dāśuci //

Wholesome, pure, and obtained without distress—such food is considered of purity; / that which is intensely dear to the senses is of passion; and that which causes suffering and is unclean is of darkness.

28. That food is considered Satvika which is healthy, wholesome and obtained without efforts; that which gratifies the senses is Rajasa and that which is impure and causes affliction is Tamasa.

11.25.29

sāttvikaṃ sukham ātmotthaṃ viṣayotthaṃ tu rājasam /
tāmasaṃ moha-dainyotthaṃ nirguṇaṃ mad-apāśrayam //

Happiness arising from the self is of purity; that arising from sense objects is of passion; / that arising from delusion and dejection is of darkness; and that having refuge in me is beyond the qualities.

29. The feeling of felicity that arises in his own self is Satvika, that which arises from the objects of sense is Rajasa, that which arises from delusion and low dispo sition is Tamasa: that which arises from realising Me is beyond the sphere of gunas.

11.25.30

dravyaṃ deśaḥ phalaṃ kālo jñānaṃ karma ca kārakaḥ /
śraddhāvasthākṛtir niṣṭhā trai-guṇyaḥ sarva eva hi //

Material, place, fruit, time, knowledge, action, and agent, / faith, condition, form, and commitment—all these indeed consist of the three qualities.

30. Substance, place, the fruit (Svarga and the like), time,

knowledge, action, the agent, faith, devotion, condition, effort, firmness, (vows):— everything is thus affected (or effected) by the three gunas.

11.25.31

sarve guṇa-mayā bhāvāḥ puruṣāvyakta-dhiṣṭhitāḥ /
dṛṣṭaṃ śrutaṃ anudhyātaṃ buddhyā vā puruṣarṣabha //

All states of being made of the guṇas rest on the puruṣa and the unmanifest,
whether seen, heard, or conceived by the intellect, O bull among men.

31. All the things are the products of the three gunas being pervaded by the Purusha and Avyakta; as also whatever is seen or contemplated or heard of by force of intellect, O bull among men.

11.25.32

etāḥ saṃsṛtayaḥ puṃso guṇa-karma-nibandhanāḥ /
yeneme nirjitāḥ saumya guṇā jīvena citta-jāḥ /
bhakti-yogena man-niṣṭho mad-bhāvāya prapadyate //

These transmigrations of the person are rooted in the guṇas and karma.
When these mind-born guṇas are overcome by the soul, O gentle one,
devoted to me through the yoga of devotion, he attains to my being.

32 to 34. These are the courses of Samsara for the person and they are caused by the gunas and his karma, O gentle one: the jiva by whom these gunas arising in the mind are subdued and who is firmly bound to Me, by means of devotion, becomes fit to attain Moksha; therefore having been endowed with this human body which is the means of attaining Jnana and Vijnana, the wise should shake off their attachment to the gunas and worship Me and resort to Me: therefore free from attachments, full of knowledge, with alertness, and with control over his senses, one should worship Me.

11.25.33

tasmād deham imaṃ labdhvā jñāna-vijñāna-sambhavam /
guṇa-saṅgaṃ vinirdhūya māṃ bhajantu vicakṣaṇāḥ //

Therefore, having obtained this body that can generate knowledge and realization,
the wise should shake off attachment to the guṇas and worship me.

11.25.34

niḥsaṅgo māṃ bhajed vidvān apramatto jitendriyaḥ /
rajas tamaś cābhijayet sattva-saṃsevayā muniḥ //

Free from attachment, attentive, and with senses conquered, the wise sage should worship me;
he should conquer passion and darkness by cultivating purity.

35. He should conquer rajas and tamas by resorting to satva and the contemplatist should overcome satva also strengthened by the absence of desire and by concentrating the mind on Me.

11.25.35

sattvaṃ cābhijayed yukto nairapekṣyeṇa śānta-dhīḥ /
sampadyate guṇair mukto jīvo jīvaṃ vihāya mām //

And the disciplined person of tranquil intellect should conquer purity through desirelessness.
Freed from the guṇas, the soul abandons the [individual] soul-nature and attains me.

11.25.36

jīvo jīva-vinirmukto guṇaiś cāśaya-sambhavaiḥ /
mayaiva brahmaṇā pūrṇo na bahir nāntaraś caret //

The soul, fully liberated from the [individual] soul-nature and from the guṇas arisen in the mind,
filled with me alone, with Brahman, should wander neither outward nor inward.

36. The Jiva released from the body and from the gunas produced in the mind, being full of (pervaded by) Myself, the Parabrahman shall not do anything external or internal, i. e., leading to samsara or Moksha.