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The eight gunas or qualities are: daya, ksanti, anasuya, sauca, anayasa,
mangala, akarpanya, asprha.
"Daya" implies love for all creatures, such love being the very
fulfilment
of life. There is indeed no greater happiness than that derived by
loving
others. Daya is the backbone of all qualities.
"Ksanti" is patience. One kind of ksanti is patiently suffering disease,
poverty, misfortune and so on. The second is forgiveness and it implies
loving a a person even if he causes us pain and trouble.
"Anasuya" you know is the name of the sage Atri's wife. She was utterly
free from jealousy: that is how she got the name which means nonjealousy.
Heart-burning caused by another man's prosperity or status is
jealousy. We ought to have love and compassion for all and ought to be
patient and forgiving even towards those who do us wrong. We must not
envy people their higher status even if they be less deserving of it
than
we are and, at the same time, must be mature enough to regard their
better position as the reward they earned by doing good in their
previous
life.
"Sauca" is derived from "suci", meaning cleanliness. Purity is to be
maintained in all matters such as bathing, dress, food. There is a
saying
often quoted even by the unlettered: "Cleanliness makes you happy and
it even appeases your hunger". To see a clean person is to feel
ourselves
clean.
In Manu's listing of dharmas that are applicable to all, ahimsa or
nonviolence
comes first, followed by satya (truthfulness), asteya (noncovetousness;
non-stealing is the direct meaning), sauca (cleanliness) and
indriyanigraha
(subduing the senses or even obliterating them).
The fifth Atmaguna is "anayasa". It is the opposite of "ayasa" which
denotes effort, exertion, etc. Anayasa means to have a feeling of
lightness, to take things easy.
One must not keep a long face, wear a scowl or keep lamenting one's
hardships. If you lose your cool you will be a burden to yourself as
well as
to others. Anayasa is a great virtue. In many of our rituals there is
much
bodily exertion. When we perform a sraddha we have to remain without
food until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. There is no end to the physical
effort
we have to put in to conduct a sacrifice. Here anayasa means not to feel
any mental strain. Obstacles, inevitable to any work or enterprise, must
not cause you any mental strain. You must not feel any duty to be a
burden and must develop the attitude that everything happens according
to the will of the Lord. What do we mean when we remark that the
musician we listened to yesterday touched the "tara-sthayi" so
effortlessly? Does it mean that he performed a difficult musical
exercise
with ease? Similarly, we must learn to make light of all the hardships
that
we encounter in life.
What is "mangala", the sixth guna? Well, "mangala" is mangala. There is
mangala or an auspicious air about happiness that is characterised by
dignity and purity. One must be cheerful all the time and not keep
growling at people on the slightest pretext. This itself is extremely
helpful, to radiate happiness wherever we go and exude auspiciousness.
It is better than making lavish gifts and throwing money about.
To do a job with a feeling of lightness is anayasa. To be light
ourselves,
creating joy wherever we go, is mangala. We must be like a lamp
spreading light and should never give cause for people to say, "Oh! He
has come to find fault with everything". Wherever we go we must create
a sense of happiness. We must live auspiciously and make sure that there
is happiness brimming over everywhere.
"Akarpanya" is the next guna. Miserliness is the quality of krpana or
miser. "Akarpanya" is the opposite of miserliness. We must give
generously and wholeheartedly.
At Kuruksetra Arjuna felt dejected and
refused to wage war with his own kin. In doing so, according to the Gita,
he was the guilty of "karpanya dosa". It means, contextually, that he
abased himself to a woeful state, he became "miserly" about himself.
Akarpanya is the quality of a courageous and zestful person who can face
problems determinedly.
"Asprha" is the last of the eight qualities. "Sprha" means desire; a
grasping nature. "Asprha" is the opposite, being without desire. Desire
is
at the root of all trouble, all evil and, all through the ages, it has
been the
cause if misfortunes. But to eradicate it from the mind of men seems an
almost impossible task. By performing rites again and again and by
constantly endeavouring to acquire the Atmic qualities one will
eventually become desireless. Says Valluvar:
Parruga parrarran parrinai apparrai
parruga parru vidarku
Tirumular goes a step further. "It is not enough, “he says, "to be
attached
to Isvara who is without attachment and be free from other attachments.
You must be able to sever yourself from the attachment to Isvara
himself".
Asai arumingal, asai arumingal
Isanodayinum asai arumingal
The Buddha calls desire thirst. Intense desire for an object is "trsna".
(The
Buddha calls it "tanha" in Prakrt). His chief teaching is the conquest
of
desire.
Desirelessness is the last of the eight qualities. The first one, daya,
is the
life-breath of Christianity. Each religion lays emphasis on a particular
quality, though all qualities are included in the teachings of Buddha,
Jesus
Christ, the Prophet Mohammed, Guru Nanak, Zoroaster, Confucius and
the founders of all other religions. Even if these qualities may not
have
been pointedly mentioned in their teachings, it is certain that none of
them would regard people lacking them with approval. |
