1.17: I will be speaking about Rajas and Tamas Guna together in two parts(today and tomorrow’s entries).
1.18: Today I am going to introduce a new concept(energy based classification) that will throw light over WHAT the Guna classsifications are and tomorrow, I will explain the WHY behind it.
1.19: First, let us take up Rajas Guna. Rajas is the attribute that is related to pleasure and activity.
1.20: Lord Brahma is said to possess Rajas Guna of the all the Trinity. We learnt yesterday that Lord Vishnu is Saatva Guna. That means Lord Shiva is said to possess Tamo Guna.
Brahma is the creator. Vishnu is the sustainer. Shiva is the dissolver. They are in charge of three distinct departments of the Lokas under the ownership of MahaMaya. It is She who had assigned them their jobs based on their innate nature.
But why? Brahma creates and it is a dynamic activity. Vishnu maintains. Maintenance means that everything has to rest in a state of equilibrium. Shiva ends things which means that from activity and after the lull of existence, all will have to dissolve and go towards null under his watch.
In the realm of Maya, we come from Brahman and will dissolve into Brahman. The three gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva have lordship over the actions that happen inbetween and these actions are Rajas, Saatva and Tamas.
1.21: If Rajas is activity, Tamas is inactivity. If our wakefulness and activity is Rajas, sleep is Tamas. If living life is Rajas, death is Tamas. They are opposites while Saatva energy is the balance between those two.
1.22: As numbers, think of Rajas as 1, Saatva as 0 and Tamas as -1.
1.23: As food, think of Rajas as a sumptuous feast with spicy, fatty, sweetened food with kheer and pickles and fried pappads. Saatvic food is kichadi and bland foods. Tamasic food is meat and fish with alcohol. Rajas food gives you energy and pleasure. Saatvic food keeps you alive until you can eat again. Tamas food makes you even more hungry and makes you inactive/sleepy.
1.24: Another example is state of mind: A Rajasic state of mind keeps the mind active and imaginative/creative/excitable/reflective and thinking of multiple things. A Saatvic state of mind keeps the mind calm, retentive and even tempered. A Tamasic state of mind brings a form of stupor and laziness and forgetfulness.
1.25: Examples of activities: Rajasic activity is working out. Saatvic activity is meditation. Tamasic activity is sleeping.
1.26: Noone has just one kind of Guna. We are all combinations of the three gunas in different aspects and times and ages in our lives. We can control and tailor and affect our gunas with actions and intentions. Most people having a balance between all three gunas thrive better than another who has one guna dominating the other two. If we cannot change our dominating guna, we have to make changes in our lives to accomodate our innate natures. example: if one has dominant saatva guna, this person shouldnt take up hunting or butchery as their career. If one is strong and enjoys working out, having great sex and eating good food and other pleasures, they shouldnt expect to indulge fully in saatvic activities like teaching spirituality. Come up with more examples as today’s assignment.*
1.27: Under Jyotish too, there are Rajas and Tamas, Rasis, Nakshatras and Grahas. Yesterday, we learnt that:
Saatva Rasis are: Mithuna(Gemini), Kanya(Virgo), Dhanush(Saggitarius) and Meena(Pisces).
Saatva Grahas are: Sun, Moon and Jupiter.
Saatva Nakshatras are the last 9 of the 27 nakshatras.
Have you figured out why?
1.28: Rajas Rasis are: Mesha(Aries), Kataka(Cancer), Thula(Libra) and Makara(Capricorn)
Rajas Grahas are: Venus and Mercury
Rajas Nakshatras are the first 9 of the 27 Nakshatras(From Ashwini to Ashlesha)
1.29: Tamas Rasis are: Vrshaba(Taurus), Simha(Leo), Vrkshika(Scorpio) and Kumbha(Aquarius)
Tamas Grahas are: Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.
Tamas Nakshatras are the middle 9 Nakshatras of the 27 Nakshatras.(From Magha to Jyeshta)
1.30: Memorise the above.
1.31: Write down these lists either in the form of a Jyotish chart or in columns. Stick it on your wall and keep staring at it. Do you detect a pattern? That is the assignment for today. You have to figure out WHY the three Gunas has thus been assigned to Rasis, Nakshatras and Grahas. Tomorrow, I will explain the logic behind this classification.
1.32: We have to look at astrology as energy imprints and pattern matching. At the end of the day, a chart reading is the energy play between different permutations and combinations of rasis, grahas, bhavas and nakshatras in certain degrees in a certain chart. Vedic astrology has codified this but the foundational basis of this is the classification of Gunas or the innate energies of celestial bodies, jeevas and ajeeva karakas.
1.33: I will give a clue in the form of the concept planetary movement. And tomorrow, I will explain a little bit more in detail.
1.34: We can divide the 12 Rasis (Signs) of the Zodiac as Chara(Moveable aka Cardinal), Sthira(Unmoveable or Fixed) and Dvishva(Balanced or Dual).
1.35.1: Chara, Sthira and Dvishva appears in this order four times in the zodiac or birth chart. It appears in the same order starting from Aries.
What does it mean? It means Aries is Chara, Taurus is Sthira and Gemini is Dvishva.
And then this pattern is repeated. Cancer is Chara. Leo is Sthira and Virgo is Dvishva.
Again it repeats: Libra is Chara. Scorpio is Sthira and Saggitarius is Dvishva.
Final repetition of pattern: Capricorn is Chara. Aquarius is Sthira and Pisces is Dvishva.
1.35.2: From this you can see that all Chara Rasis have Rajas Guna. Rajas is initiating force. It is ‘beginnings’. It is movement. It is the creative force.
1.35.3: We can see that all Sthira Rasis have Tamo Guna. Tamas is concentration of any force/energy. It is a place of death and transformation and rebirth.
It is important to note that Tamas is not necessarily negative as it’s commonly understood. It simply means an imbalance where there is a concentration of any energy and there is no movement. Money buried in the ground not earning any interest is Tamas. Money in circulation creating both plenty and scarcity for different people is Rajas. Giving everyone an equal amount of money or resource is Saatvic.
1.35.4: All Dvishva or dual signs/Rasis are Saatvic. There is no energy expended here. There is no transformation. There is no creation. There is only balance and equilibrium.
1.35.5: So we have to be able to know by order which of the 12 Rasis are Chara, Sthira and Dvishva. And by extension, which Rasis possess Saatva, Rajo and Tamo Guna.
1.36.1: With Grahas, Sun, Moon and Jupiter are considered Saatvic. Why is this so? Because Sun and Moon are luminaries. Sun burns to sustain life and it is complete. Moon reflects the light of the sun and its existence is complete when it gives out light. Jupiter is represented by Guru or Brihaspati. Another meaning for Guru is ‘one who gets rid of the darkness of ignorance’. So Guru too is a kind of luminary. All Saatvic grahas ‘give’ and their purpose is to give to others without any expectation to receive anything back. The transaction is balanced.
1.36.2: Venus and Mercury are Rajas in Nature. Why? Because they are creative forces. They are Shukracharya(Daityaguru) and Budha(Mercury/active mind). Both these Grahas and their lords are related to wealth, pleasure, quick thinking and intellect. They are complete when they are creative. They are action oriented and hedonistic.
1.36.3: Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu are Tamas in Nature. Why? They are all Krura grahas(all krura grahas with the exception of Surya have Tamo Guna) who extract from us to create/expend/burn individual karmas. They represent discipline and duties and are very karmic in nature. Karma exists to transform souls. We are born to burn our karma and we do that with our actions..this may be pleasant(enjoying good karmas and hence burning them) or unpleasant(burning bad karma by enduring and facing challenges). At the end of every life, karma is earned or expended which leads to the transformation of the soul. Hence transformation relates to Tamo Guna.
1.37: With Nakshatras, the first 9 nakshatras are Rajas, the middle 9 are Tamas and the last 9 are Saatvic. If you have attended my 108 day Nakshatra bootcamp, we have discussed this in depth. If you are new to my sessions, we will touch upon this briefly tomorrow.
1.38: For today’s session, please make three columns and write down the gunas of Rasis, Nakshatras and Grahas. This, you must memorise. I will explain the WHY tomorrow and also give two hidden codes tomorrow for those who have attended previous Nakshatra sessions. For others, dont worry…we will get there soon enough.
1.39: I will summarise with a podcast entry on Friday and perhaps if there are doubts, we can do a live ClubHouse session. Use the numbering system to specify. More tomorrow!