Guna

Related Topics:
Guna :: Gunalda

For the city and district in central India,see Guna, India and Guna District.

For the region of Guna South America,see Guna, S.A..

The Sanskrit word guna () has the basic meaning of "string" or "a single thread or strand of a cord or twine". In more abstract uses, it may mean "a subdivision, species, kind", and generally "quality".

In Classical literature

In Classical literature (e.g. Mahabharata, Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita), a Guna is an attribute of the 5 elements (each with an associated organ):

1. ether has sound (shabda) for its Guna (and the ear for its organ).

2. the air has tangibility and sound for its Gunas (and the skin for its organ).

3. fire has shape or colour, tangibility, and sound for its Gunas (and the eye for its organ).

4. water has flavour, shape, tangibility, and sound for its Gunas (and the tongue for its organ).

5. earth has all preceding Gunas, plus its own peculiar Guna of smell (and the nose for its organ).

In Samkhya philosophy

In Samkhya philosophy a Guna is one of three "tendencies": tamas, sattva, and rajas. These categories have become a common means of categorizing behavior and natural phenomena in Hindu philosophy, and also in Ayurvedic medicine, as a system to assess conditions and diets. Guna is the tendency of the mind and not the state. For instance, Sattva guna is that force which tends to bring the mind to purity but is not purity itself. Similarly Rajas is that force which tends to bring the mind to perform some action but is not action itself.

Sattva (originally "being, existence, entity") has been translated to mean balance, order, or purity. This typically implies that a person with more of Sattva has a positive or even orderly state of mind. Such a person is psychologically kind, calm, alert and thoughtful. Compare also the bodhisattvas in Buddhism. Indologist Georg Feuerstein translates sattva as "lucidity".

Rajas (originally "atmosphere, air, firmament") leads one to activity. This type of activity is explained by the term Yogakshem. Yogakshem is composed of two words: Yoga and Kshem. Yoga in the present context is acquiring something that one does not have. Kshem means losing something that one already has. Rajas is the force that creates desires for acquiring new things and fears for losing something that one has. These desires and fears lead one to activity. (Rajas is etymologically unrelated to the word raja.) Feuerstein translates rajas as "dynamism".

Tamas (originally "darkness", "obscurity") has been translated to mean "too inactive", negative, lethargic, dull, or slow. Usually it is associated with darkness, delusion, or ignorance. A tamas quality also can imply that a person has a self-destructive or entropic state of mind. That person is constantly pursuing destructive activities. Feuerstein translates tamas as "inertia".

In Nyaya philosophy

In Nyaya philosophy, twenty-four Gunas are enumerated as properties or characteristics of all created things.

1. rūpa, shape, colour;

2. rasa, savour;

3. gandha, odour;

4. sparśa, tangibility;

5. saṃkhyā, number;

6. parimāṇa, dimension;

7. pṛthaktva, severalty;

8. saṃyoga, conjunction;

9. vibhāga, disjunction;

10. paratva, remoteness;

11. aparatva, proximity;

12. gurutva, weight;

13. dravatva, fluidity;

14. sneha, viscidity;

15. shabda, sound;

16. buddhi or jñāna, understanding or knowledge;

17. sukha, pleasure;

18. duḥkha, pain;

19. icchā, desire;

20. dveṣa, aversion;

21. prayatna, effort;

22. dharma, merit or virtue;

23. adharma, demerit;

24. saṃskāra, the self-reproductive quality;

In grammar

In Sanskrit grammar, guṇa is a technical term referring to the vowels a, e, o, i.e. the full grade ablaut stages (see Ashtadhyayi).

References

The Ayurveda Encyclopedia by Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha

External links

Hindu philosophical concepts | Sanskrit

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