For Eternal Beginners
सत्त्वम् सुखे सन्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत ।
ज्ञानम् आवृत्य तु तमः प्रमादे सन्जयत्युत ॥ ९ ॥
sattvam sukhe sanjayati rajaH karmaNi bhArata |
jJAnam AvRtya tu tamaH pramAde sanjayatyuta || 9 ||
भारत [bhArata] Arjuna, सत्त्वम् [sattvam] the quality of
sattva सन्जयति [sanjayati] binds us सुखे [sukhe] in comfort. रजः [rajaH] The quality of
rajas कर्मणि [karmaNi] binds us in actions. तमः [tamaH] The quality of
tamas ज्ञानम् आवृत्य [jJAnam AvRtya] conceals knowledge and प्रमादे सन्जयति [pramAde sanjayati] binds us in mistakes.
The primary effect of sattva is to bind us in comfort.
The quality of rajas predominantly addicts us to activity.
On the other hand, the quality of tamas conceals awareness of the true nature of things. This gives rise to misconceptions. In this way, its main effect is to cause indulgence in work that must not be done, binding us to mistakes and other faults.
The three qualities are accumulated in the form of a body we own. By their very nature, they bind us to the material world.
All these three qualities exist all the time. They generate effects that are opposite to each other - such as awareness and ignorance. How do they generate contradictory effects on the body? This question is answered next.