Gita 14.10 The modes are neither in segregation nor in integration but are in competition

Transcript

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thank you 14.10 Bhagavad Gita Rajas Tamascha Vibhuyasattvam Bhavati Bharata Rajasattvam Tamaschaiva Tamasattvam Rajas Tatha so here Krishna is speaking Tamascha Vibhuyasattvam overcoming the mode of passion and ignorance Sattvam Bhavati Bharata sometimes the mode of sattva becomes prominent and then sometimes continues and says that then sometimes the mode of passion becomes prominent Sattvam Rajas Tatha Rajas Tamascha Vibhuyasattvam Bhavati Bharata so Rajas Tamas overcoming Sattvam Bhavati sattva becomes prominent Rajasattvam Tamaschaiva Rajas becomes prominent overcoming sattva and tamas sometimes Tamasattvam Rajas Tatha sometimes Tamoguna becomes prominent overcoming sattva and rajas so the point here is that actually he is not that Krishna is giving these 3 modes are not isolated they are not living in segregation they are not living in integration they are living in competition this means that the modes live neither in segregation nor integration but in competition so segregation means say if we have 2 countries they just have a rigid border in between them and they and each country develops its resources concentrates its resources within its own limits and moves on that’s one possibility the other possibility is that each country lives within its own the 2 countries come together like United States of America so we may have some federal structure but they are integrated together and they work together so the modes are not either in segregation sattva, rajas and tamas they are not like separate forces having their own clearly defined areas and influences nor are they integrated where they all combine together for development for each other for symbiotic development yes they have a common purpose they are all ways in which illusion acts the modes we could say are the forces of illusion but still they are not integrated in the sense that they are not going to help each other directly so Krishna says that these 3 are in competition this confrontation so the territory the disputed territory which the modes are competing over is our own consciousness they are all striving to actually gain control of our consciousness and by gaining control of the consciousness they are trying to use as for their purposes so for example say sometimes we have to study so sometimes the determination to study may overcome the distraction of wanting to say know the latest social media updates or other distractions such as the time at a particular the urge to sleep or doze off so that would be that sattva guna wins but sometimes we may want to sit and study but then the urge to do this to watch this, to touch this to eat this to chat over there that may win then we could say rajo guna wins sometimes we decide to study but then we just I am so tired, I just need to sleep and we go to sleep so then that is the time when tamo guna wins now all the three modes have their own roles and all of them play their roles in quite significant ways significant ways means that every single every single situation is accumulation of the modes so Shreya Prabhupada gives the example of the colors you can say there are three primary colors RGB or RYB but from there many different colors can manifest through their combination so like that every individual consciousness is a combination of three modes and from there from this combination of three modes many different individual consciousnesses we could say consciousness usually we don’t talk about plural to it but many different individual consciousness can manifest so in the three verses when he introduced the modes 6, 7, 8 at that time Krishna talked about their characteristics in isolation that was for the purpose of definition but in real life function the modes do not function in isolation they function in integration and this means that they actually work for steady they work not so much integration as in overlapping territories they work in competition and the result is of course it is not so much integrated but it is mixed together so illusion is furthered not necessarily that one particular mode is furthered by the other modes there is inner tug of war going on and sometimes the tug of war is not just between illusion and reality there can be a tug of war between different forms of illusion also so the tug of war is not just between illusion and reality it is also between one brand of illusion and another brand of illusion sometimes a person may go to drink a person and may spend a lot of time thinking should I take this drink or that drink and there actually both the choices are intoxicating both the choices are deluding but the person is taking that option either option because simply because they don’t see any further option for growth over there they just don’t see anything that they could do by which this is the thing that I have to do there is nothing else that I can do I have to drink the only question is what will I drink how will I drink it so this is illusion itself captivates us by giving us options within illusion so we need when options within illusion are not liberating its only options beyond illusion that are often we equate freedom with options but freedom is also determined by what kind of options we have Prabhupada will give the example of whether you have iron shackles or golden shackles shackles are still shackles so like that the mode all of them are forms of bondage so in that sense just thinking that I am situated in the mode of goodness does not necessarily lead to any substantial spiritual advancement or growth towards Krishna it is conducive no doubt but when when say when a particular metal is conducive to the flow of electricity then also electricity has to be there to flow through it if it is not conducive then electricity will not flow but even if it is conducive if electricity itself is not there then again the flow will not happen so similarly the mode of goodness is conducive to spirituality but there has to be a spiritual intention a spiritual interest, a spiritual intention spiritual intensity if none of these are there then just being in the mode of goodness is not enough just as being conducive to electricity is not enough for the transmission of electricity if there is no electricity so Krishna I will talk about how spiritual level is a distinct level of reality and how ultimately that is where we need to progress towards so now how the particular modes when they become manifest or they become predominant what are the symptoms that arise that he will talk about