7. rajo ragatmakam viddhi
trwdsangasamudbhavam
tan nibadhnai kaunteya
karmasangena dehinam
(7) Passion (rajas), know thou, is of the nature of attraction, springing from craving and attachment. It binds fast, 0 Son of Kunti (Arjuna), the embodied one by attachment to action Though the self is not the agent, rajas makes him act with the idea "I am the doer." Anandagiri.
8. lamas tv ajnanajam Inddhs
mohanam sarvadehinam
pramadalasyanidrabhis
tan nibadhnati bharata
(8) But dullness (tamas), know thou, is born of ignorance and deludes all embodied beings. It binds, 0 Bharata (Arjuna), by (developing the qualities of) negligence. indolence and sleep.
9. sattva sukhe sari ayati
rajah karmani bharata
jnanam dvrtya tu tamah
pramade sanjayaty uta
(9) Goodness attaches one to happiness, passion to action, 0 Bharata (Arjuna), but dullness, veiling wisdom, attaches to negligence
10. rajas tamas ca 'bhibhya
sattvam bhavati bharata
rajah sattvam tamas cat
'va tamah sattvam rajas tatha
(10) Goodness prevails, overpowering passion and dullness, 0 Bharata (Arjuna) Passion prevails, (overpowering) goodness and dullness and even so dullness prevails (overpowering) goodness and passion The three modes are present in all human beings, though in different degrees. No one is free from them and in each soul one or the other predominates. Men are said to be sattvika, rajasa or tamasa according to the mode which prevails. When the theory of the "humours" of the body dominated physiology, men were divided into the sanguine, the bilious, the lymphatic and the nervous, according to the predominance of one or the other of the four humours. In the Hindu classification, the psychic characteristics are taken into account. The sattvika nature aims at light and knowledge : the raj asa nature is restless, full of desires for things outward. While the activities of a sattvika temperament are free, calm and selfless, the rajasa nature wishes to be always active and cannot sit still and its activities are tainted by selfish desires. The tamasa nature is dull and inert, its mind is dark and confused and its whole life is one continuous submission to environment.
11. sarvadvaresu dehe 'smn
prakasa upaiayate
jnanam, yada tada vidyad
vivrddham h sattvam ity uta
(11) When the light of knowledge streams forth in all the gates of the body, then it may be known that goodness has increased. sarvadvdresu dehesmin: all the gates of the body. The light of knowledge can have a full physical manifestation. The truth of consciousness is not opposed to expression in matter. The Divine can be realized on the physical plane. To divinize the human consciousness, to bring the light into the physical, to transfigure our whole life is the aim of yoga. When our minds are illumined and senses quickened, then sattva predominates.
