Gita 14.17 Different modes foster different emotions, dispositions and destinations

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
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In the mode of goodness arises knowledge. From the mode of goodness arises greed, from the mode of passion arises greed. And from the mode of ignorance arises intoxication and illusion.
So actually here two things are happening. Krishna is now talking about the immediate results in terms of what exactly happens. Actually there are long term results, there are medium term results and there are short term results.
So here Krishna is talking about the short term results. Whenever we act in a particular mode, we work towards purifying ourselves. So we act in such a way that we naturally choose pure actions and that there is knowledge by which you can choose pure actions.
As Krishna has said earlier that sarva-dhaare shuddhehe smin prakashyam upajayate jnanam yadadavidyad vivruddham sattva-mittyutam. So Krishna says sarva-dhaare shuddhehe smin prakashyam upajayate jnanam yadadavidyad. This means that he says that a person is illumined by knowledge when they are, the gates of the senses are illumined by knowledge when they are in the mode of goodness.
So the same point Krishna is stating over here prakashyam sattva-sanjayate jnanam. In the mode of goodness there is knowledge and that knowledge enables us to stay pure, to make pure choices. Even when some impure thoughts come into our consciousness, we are able to resist them by striving for purity and by cultivating purity.
So when we do this, then at that time slowly but surely we move forward in our journey towards Krishna by acting in knowledge. So for example, we may be agitated by something, some desire or some fear and if at that time we can start thinking about Krishna or we can just start taking some deep breaths, we read some book which is filled with some spiritual wisdom, then by that we actually move forward towards elevating ourselves, towards purifying ourselves, towards taking ourselves closer to the supreme. So thus what happens is, by such actions we, just taking some deep breath, reading some wisdom literature, that just calms us down.
And by that calmness we are able to actually do much much better things than what we might have been able to do earlier. This is the knowledge that results by the practice of the mode of goodness. The more we are in the mode of goodness, the more we learn to practice in a way that helps us to move closer to Krishna and thereby we, even if we are not devotees, at least we act in knowledge.
So that helps us to stay pure. sattvāt sañjāyate jñānam rajaso lobha eva ca As soon as the mode of passion arises, the mode of passion is characterized by more, by greed. I want more and more and still more.
So rajaso lobha eva ca, that with the triggering of the mode of passion, there is the greed, strong greed that comes up. The craving for more. No matter how much we have, our mind doesn’t look at what we have, the mind looks at what we don’t have.
And thus we end up feeling dissatisfied. So lobha or greed is a defining characteristic of the mode of passion. In this mode, we are just not allowed by our mind to stay focused.
No matter what we do, we stay agitated, we stay irritated, we stay frustrated. The best way to deal with such a situation is to recognize that we need to elevate ourselves. That at the level of greed, there is never going to be any satisfaction, no matter what we do.
Rajaso lobha eva ca. The very nature of greed is that it will make us look at all the things that we don’t have and thus make us feel dissatisfied. If ever we are to be satisfied, we need to look at the things that we have.
So how much we have doesn’t determine our satisfaction as much as how much we have the control to look at what we have. Ambition is not bad. There is a difference between ambition and greed.
Ambition can be positive and spiritual. We see that God has given us talents and that we are meant to do justice to those talents, that we are meant to make some contributions based on those talents. With that understanding, if we strive to work to purify ourselves, to elevate ourselves, then actually we will be able to move forwards in doing our best.
So when we are acting in that way, we are not letting ourselves get captivated by the world’s ups and downs. Instead we are choosing to stay fixed in ourselves, our gifts and what we can contribute. Sometimes the circumstances will be favorable enough by which we can make the contributions and sometimes they will be unfavorable because of which we may not be able to make the contributions.
But either way, if we stay fixed, then we can move forwards positively and progress towards loving harmony with Krishna. Progress towards enduring contribution in a mood of devotion. And thus we can actually ensure that we can cultivate ambition without having to be subjected to dissatisfaction.
So if our vision is fixed outwards and what we should have and what we are not getting, then there is greed. If our vision is fixed inwards and what we can contribute in a mood of service, then that is ambition. So ambition can enrich us with a sense of purpose, whereas greed impoverishes us with a sense of paucity.
And it’s not that when we are becoming spiritual, we are meant to not become pure ambition. Rather our vision should be inwards. So our wealth, our treasure is our connection with Krishna.
And that is what we value primarily in our life. And while valuing our relationship with Krishna, in a mood of service to him, we try to make contributions. So when this is our mood, then we can avoid the torment of greed which arises with the mood of passion.
So and then pramāda mohaṁ tamaso bhavato ajñānam eva ca. So tamaso, the mood of ignorance leads to madness, illusion and ignorance. So when we are in the mood of ignorance, we don’t know what is what.
That is ajñāna. And moha means there is false perception. We come to our own mistaken conclusions based on our incorrect perceptions.
And then there is madness in the way we function because we have been overwhelmed by the things around us. The mood of ignorance overwhelms us and aggravates our precarious situation in material existence. So in this way, Krishna has been outlining here the effects of living in the moods.
Effects in terms of where we will go after death. Effects in, that was 14 and 15. 16 was in terms of what will be the overall disposition that we have.