#20 - Gunas of Nature Governing Us

Gita - Chapter 3

Grandfather on Gunas of Nature, and how these impact our lives -

Shloka 33 - implies that we are governed by the three gunas of our nature & we cannot change our nature easily nor should we be doing this forcibly, but if we keep doing noble actions deliberately & consciously without attachment, then we can improve ourselves gradually. Shloka 34 emphasizes that attachment & aversion reside in each one of  our senses & we  should not allow ourselves to come under their influence, because these two are every person's sworn enemies, which are obstacles on his path of rectitude.  

Chapter 4

Shloka 13

Shloka 13 is a very famous shloka of the Gita where Sri Krishna declares that the four Varnas are not by birth but by gunas - qualities & aptitudes.

Chapter 14

Shloka 10

Regarding shloka 10, I recall Gurudev advising that instead of letting only one guna (mode), especially सत्व गुण (goodness) to dominate the other two gunas (modes), which may not be easy, try to get सत्व गुण (mode of goodness) & रजो गुण (mode of passion) to jointly dominate the (mode of ignorance) तमो गुण.  

Chapter 15

Shloka 3 and 4

You can never be tired of doing good. It is always better to do good than doing some thoughtless silly things. The inverted figurative tree referred to here, does not represent ultimate reality but only describes the illusory world of our make-believes, comprising our sanskars formed under the influence of the three gunas (modes).