Answers by

PROF. HR NAGENDRA,
Vice Chancellor,
SVYASA, Bangalore, India

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Transcription

Gunatheetha. Gunateethasthithi is that of a jnani and this comes after the Jnana. He transcends the gunas, tamas, rajas, sattva. In the process you move from tamas to rajas, rajas to sattva and sattva is not the end, from sattva you go to the next level. What is the transcendence? Transcendence is to understand the conflicts related to them. The bondages associated with them and have a clear wisdom as to what is to be done, what is not to be done. So just because you transcend the guna it does not mean that you are not going to act. In the gunatheethasthithi people act with higher wisdom. A sthithapragna who is in a state of transcendence, in the guna theethasthithi, a state of pragna, a jivanmukta, he has a complete mission. He knows what is going to happen, what is not going to happen. And therefore he uses the three gunas according to his choice to build the ideal social orders, to transform the people around them. If you are bound by the three gunas, you are bound to act only in one way, you cannot use other gunas. In the gunatheethasthithi you become the master, therefore you can use the different gunas whether it is tamas, rajas or sattva and try to bring about the transformation in the people around you and your own self and also in the whole society. Therefore he acts like a master, whenever it is needed he may use rajas, whenever needed he may use sattva, whenever needed he may even use tamas to do that. Sometimes tamas is very necessary to shutter another tamasik thing, he may use that. A rajas maybe used to shatter the tamas to raise higher. Sattva often he uses. Most of the time it is the sattva but sometimes he can use even the rajas. In Ramayana we have the exemplication of using only the sattva and sattva and sattva by Rama to build ideal social orders. But in Mahabharatha Krishna uses all the three as the master of masters to bring about the transformation of the people, transformation of the country and the whole nation and the whole society. Therefore Ramayana and Mahabharatha are two exemplary epics which show the different dimensions. In the Ramayana, you saw Rama is a sarvagunasampana, always sattva, sattva, sattva. He uses only the sattva for bringing the transformation. Whereas Krishna he often uses rajas, he uses the tamas as forces, he understands that all these are forces. You can use these forces and bring about the change.