Bhagavad Gita – Three types of Happinnes and more
by Atman Nityananda
The three kinds of happiness according to the three gunas
36. Now hear from Me, O Arjuna, concerning the three kinds of happiness. Hear about that happiness in which one rejoices by practice, and certainly comes to the end of pain.
37. The happiness which is like poison at the beginning but like nectar at the end, that happiness born of the purity of one’s own intellect and its contact with the Self it is considered to be Sattvic.
38. That happiness that arises from the contact of the sense-organs with the objects, which is like nectar at the beginning and like poison at the end, is considered to be Rajasic.
39. That happiness which at the beginning and afterwards deludes oneself, arising from sleep, indolence and negligence, such happiness is considered to be Tamasic.
~ Bhagavad Gita Ch. XVIII
The three kinds of action according to the three gunas
23. An action which is in accordance with scriptures, which is performed without attachment, without desire or aversion (like or dislike) by one who does not hanker for rewards (to reap the fruit of his action), that action is called to be Sattvic.
24. But that action which is prompted by selfish desire, that is done by one who seeks to gratify his desires and get the results of his action, done with the feeling of I and with much effort, that is said to be Rajasic.
25. That action which is undertaken out of delusion, without considering the consequences of loss , injury (the pain caused to living beings when the work is carried out) and one’s own ability (the ability of completing the act), that is said to be Tamasic.
~ Bhagavad Gita Ch. XVIII
The three kinds of Doer according to the three gunas
26. He who is free from attachment to action and its results, devoid of the feeling of being the agent, endowed with firmness (perseverance regarding an act that has been begun despite the pain that is inevitable till the completion of the work) and enthusiasm (zeal) and unaffected (his mind remains equanimous) by success or failure, is called Sattvic.
27. He who is Passionate, who desires the fruits of his actions, whose nature is greedy and cruel, impure, moved by joy and sorrow (elated or depressed by success or failure), such a doer is said to be Rajasic.
28. Undisciplined, dejected, obstinate or stubborn (one who is not disposed to act), cunning, dishonest, malicious, vulgar, lazy and procrastinating, such a doer is called Tamasic.
~ Bhagavad Gita Ch. XVIII
The three kinds of knowledge according to the three gunas
20. That knowledge by which one sees the one imperishable Reality (Consciousness, Atman) in all beings, undivided in all the diversified beings, know you that knowledge to be Sattvic.
21. But that knowledge which apprehends that the different entities as possessing distinct selves (as if the Self – the Consciousness – in each one is different from the Self of others), know you that knowledge to be Rajasic.
22. But that knowledge, without reason, clings to the idea that the physical body (which is only an insignificant effect of the three gunas) is the whole (as if there is nothing more than the body), which is insignificant and without foundation in Truth, that is declared to be tamasic.
~ Bhagavad Gita Ch. XVIII
The three kinds of intellect according to the three gunas
30. That intellect, by which one understands action and withdrawal (renunciation) from action, what is proper and what is improper action (what ought to be done and what ought not to be done), fear and fearlessness (discerns transgression of the sacred scriptures -Sastras as the cause of fear and observance of the Sastras as the cause of fearlessness), bondage and liberation, that intellect, O Arjuna, is Sattvic!
31. That intellect by which one incorrectly understands (discerns) what is righteous (Dharma) and unrighteous (Adharma), and also what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, that intellect, O Arjuna, is Rajasic!
32. That intellect, which enveloped in darkness, conceives unrighteous (Adharma) as righteous (Dharma) and all things contrary to what they are, that intellect, O Arjuna, is called Tamasic!
~ Bhagavad Gita Ch. XVIII
37. The happiness which is like poison at the beginning but like nectar at the end, that happiness born of the purity of one’s own intellect and its contact with the Self it is considered to be Sattvic.
🌺 Peace, Love, Light
atmannityanada 