Among the many varied methods of Hindu philosophy, the Yoga system explains character via the idea of Swabhava (innate behaviour), as outlined within the scriptures. This behaviour is taken into account the important high quality of the soul inside us. It governs all our karma and is considered the foundation seed of our dharma (ethical duties). In yogic phrases, this behaviour is studied via the lens of the three Gunas, which outline the qualities of 1’s character.
Sattva Guna, one of many three Gunas, is the standard that brings readability, concord, and stability to an individual’s Chitta (thoughts).
Have you ever ever skilled a second while you felt fully glad, calm, and entire? That deep sense of satisfaction arises from Sattva Guna, which turns into dominant inside us throughout sure intervals.
What Is Sattva Guna?
Within the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 14, Verse 6), Lord Krishna explains the character of Sattva Guna—the mode of goodness:
Sanskrit Verse:
tatra sattvaṁ nirmalatvāt prakāśhakam anāmayam
sukha-saṅgena badhnāti jñāna-saṅgena chānaghaTranslation:
“Amongst these, Sattva Guna, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating and stuffed with well-being. O sinless one, it binds the soul by creating attachment to happiness and information.”
On this verse, spoken on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Lord Krishna describes Sattva Guna to Arjuna as a power that uplifts, but gently binds the soul via its attachment to happiness and information.
Sattva Guna represents a state of steadiness between overactivity and underactivity. It is without doubt one of the three elementary qualities (Gunas) of existence. Amongst them, Sattva Guna is taken into account the purest and most harmonious.
This idea originates from the Samkhya faculty of Hindu philosophy. In accordance with this method, Sattva leads one towards Dharma (the best way of life) and Gyan (information).
Which means & Interpretation
The Sanskrit time period Sattva means purity or goodness, and Guna means high quality or attribute. Collectively, Sattva Guna refers back to the high quality of goodness.
Sattva Guna is symbolised by the color white, which represents peace and purity.
It embodies qualities similar to selflessness, reality, information, peace, concord, creativity, and positivity. Sattva is the essence of dwelling a peaceable, purposeful, and significant life.
What modifications occur when sattva guna will increase?
A rise in Sattva Guna results in varied constructive results: bodily, mentally, and spiritually.
When Sattva turns into dominant in an individual, the next modifications are noticed:
Behavioural modifications
- The individual develops a real need to be good and turns into extra caring in direction of others.
- They seem cheerful, glad, and stuffed with gratitude.
- They acquire better self-control and show kindness, compassion, and non-violent behaviour.
Psychological modifications
- The Sattvic high quality fills the thoughts with knowledge and readability.
- It brings a way of inside maturity and emotional stability.
- The person can simply distinguish between wants and desires, proper and flawed, and devoted vs. non-devoted actions.
- They carry out their duties truthfully, with a way of goodwill and consciousness in regards to the penalties of their actions.
Non secular modifications
- The individual develops reverence for divine rules and religious values.
- They develop into inwardly pure and expertise delicate religious sensations.
- Sattva Guna additionally brings steadiness to the three Ayurvedic doshas Vata, Pitta, and Kapha supporting total well-being.
Does sattva guna deliver limitations ?
Though Sattva Guna brings many constructive modifications to an individual’s life, it could possibly additionally create sure limitations. It binds the person via attachment to happiness and information, which may subtly hinder religious liberation.
Sattva Guna makes an individual sort, well mannered, and compassionate however these very qualities could typically be misused by others. Individuals could benefit from one’s goodness, mistaking it for weak spot.
These are a number of the obvious limitations that will come up when Sattva Guna turns into dominant.
Kinds of sattva guna
There are seven sorts of Sattva Guna, every related to totally different divine traits. Based mostly on these, we will distinguish varied sattvic character varieties amongst people.
1. Brahma Sattva (Sharing the Traits of Brahma)
Individuals with Brahma Sattva are pure, emotionally steady, self-disciplined, and truthful. They’re sober, clever, and free from anger, greed, egocentric needs, and envy.
2. Arsa Sattva (Sharing the Traits of Rishis)
Also called Rishi Sattva, these people are dedicated to sacred rituals, scriptural research, and religious vows. They’re imaginative, clever, and free from ego, pleasure, hatred, envy, and anger.
3. Aindra Sattva (Sharing the Traits of Indra)
Aindra Sattva is marked by bravery, power, and ethical authority. These people are assured, eloquent, dedicated to righteous actions, and indifferent from base or egocentric behaviour.
4. Yamya Sattva (Sharing the Traits of Yama)
Individuals with Yamya Sattva are action-oriented, assertive, and possess sturdy reminiscence and self-discipline. They’re free from envy, hatred, attachment, and ignorance.
5. Varuna Sattva (Sharing the Traits of Varuna – God of Water)
Varuna varieties are affected person, pure, and calm, with a love for cleanliness and water-related actions. They keep away from impurity and anger and are usually conservative, but balanced.
6. Kauvera Sattva (Sharing the Traits of Kuvera – God of Wealth)
These personalities worth honour, wealth, and dignity. They’re typically rich, outgoing, and status-conscious. Nonetheless, they could even be vulnerable to occasional irritation.
7. Gandharva Sattva (Sharing the Traits of Celestial Nymphs – Gandharvas)
Individuals with Gandharva Sattva are inventive and artistic. They take pleasure in dancing, singing, poetry, and sweetness. They’ve a mild nature and sometimes deliver peace and pleasure to these round them.
Find out how to enhance sattva guna?
Rising Sattva Guna means cultivating a way of thinking that’s regular, quiet, and peaceable. In easy phrases, enhancing a Guna includes changing outdated unfavorable habits with new, constructive ones that align with purity, steadiness, and inside concord.
From a yogic perspective, some of the efficient methods to develop Sattva is by practising the 5 Yamas and 5 Niyamas, that are foundational to the Eight Limbs of Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga).
Beneath are some sensible steps you possibly can take to enhance Sattva Guna in your day by day life:
1. Eat wholesome sattvic meals
The meals we eat not solely impacts our physique but in addition has a direct affect on our thoughts.
Spicy, oily, or overly stimulating meals typically makes an individual stressed or aggressive. These are indicators of a rajasic nature. Equally, heavy meals like meat, alcohol, or intoxicants boring the thoughts and promote laziness traits of a tamasic character.
In distinction, gentle, contemporary, and calming meals helps create peace and readability inside. To extend Sattva Guna, one ought to eat sattvic meals.
A sattvic weight loss plan contains each the correct of meals and conscious consuming habits. Such a weight loss plan usually consists of:
- Clear, contemporary, healthful, and pure meals
- Fruits, greens, entire grains, nuts, seeds, and dairy merchandise taken sparsely
- Meals that feels pure and may be supplied to God
- Digestive herbs like ginger, cardamom, cumin, and turmeric
Sattvic meals follows the precept of Ahimsa non-violence. This implies it avoids inflicting hurt to any dwelling being. Subsequently, it’s best to keep away from non-vegetarian meals and any gadgets that contain cruelty or destruction of their preparation.
2. Keep correct hygiene
To domesticate Sattva Guna, it’s important to maintain each your physique and environment clear. The atmosphere you reside in has a powerful affect in your ideas and vitality. A clear house creates a peaceful and constructive environment, whereas litter and mess can result in psychological restlessness.
Make it a behavior to remain clear, put on contemporary garments, and hold your own home and office tidy. Cleanliness not solely displays outer order but in addition helps inside readability and steadiness.
3. Be certain to steadiness between work & leisure
Working with out pause is a trait of a rajasic nature, whereas laziness displays a tamasic tendency. A sattvic state lies in balancing each being energetic with out attachment and resting with out dullness.
Your senses deeply affect your ideas and feelings. What you see, hear, or learn shapes your psychological state. Violent or disturbing content material, whether or not in exhibits, video games, or books, can subtly enhance aggression or restlessness.
As a substitute, select content material that brings pleasure, peace, and love tales that uplift the thoughts and contact the guts. Such selections assist nurture Sattva Guna and convey calmness to your inside world.
4. Your organization issues
Be conscious of the individuals you spend your time with. The corporate you retain enormously influences your ideas, feelings, and behavior. Being round constructive, considerate people can uplift you, whereas fixed publicity to negativity can pull you down.
For those who discover that your circle is inflicting agitation or holding you again, it could be time to take a step again. As a substitute, search the corporate of those that are calm, inventive, and peace-loving.
Spending time with people who replicate Sattva Guna will naturally aid you develop those self same qualities inside your self.
5. Keep away from night time work and rise early
Waking up early is a straightforward however highly effective behavior that brings calmness and readability to your day. To get up early, you need to additionally sleep early. Human beings are naturally aligned with the rhythm of the solar—not meant for night time work. Sustaining this pure cycle helps restore steadiness in each physique and thoughts.
Sadhguru explains that the early morning time often called Brahma Muhurta is particularly helpful.
Brahma Muhurta begins about one and a half hours earlier than dawn and ends 48 minutes after dawn. It’s thought-about essentially the most auspicious time to get up, as delicate physiological modifications happen within the physique that promote stillness, readability, and inside steadiness.
Waking throughout this era has a profound impact in your behaviour. It helps stabilise your temper, clears your thoughts, and nurtures Sattva Guna over time.
6. Spend time with nature
Within the Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Shri Krishna says:
“vanaṁ tu sāttviko vāso”
“Residence within the forest is within the mode of Sattva.”
— Srimad Bhagavatam 11.25.25 (first line)
Whereas it might not be sensible to reside in a forest immediately, this verse doesn’t recommend we abandon trendy life. Quite, it encourages us to remain linked with nature, because it naturally nurtures Sattva Guna.
Residing removed from nature and staying absorbed in know-how tends to extend Rajas (restlessness) and Tamas (inertia). Then again, spending time in pure environment brings stillness, readability, and a way of inside peace.
Taking even a brief stroll in a park, sitting close to bushes, or watching the dawn can calm your thoughts and restore steadiness. These easy moments aid you reconnect along with your inside self and regularly enhance Sattva Guna.
7. Meditation
“When consciousness turns into clear and the senses are indifferent from matter, one experiences fearlessness inside the materials physique and detachment from the fabric thoughts. It’s best to perceive this example to be the facility of the Sattva Guna (mode of goodness), by which one has the chance to understand Me (Lord Shri Krishna).”- [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.25.16]
Meditation helps create a pure sense of detachment from the fabric world. It clears the thoughts, purifies the inside self, and brings you nearer to your true nature. By means of common meditation, you start to rise above illusions and distractions, connecting deeply along with your consciousness (Chitta).
Together with meditation in your day by day routine is without doubt one of the only methods to develop Sattva Guna. You may also assist your follow with yoga asanas, pranayama, mudras, and different yogic methods. These assist calm the nervous system and put together the thoughts for deeper meditation.
Over time, this constant follow results in inside stillness, readability, and a gentle development in sattvic qualities.
8. Follow bhakti yoga
Within the Srimad Bhagavatam, Lord Shri Krishna says:
“mad-arpaṇaṁ niṣphalaṁ vā sāttvikaṁ nija-karma tat”
“Work carried out as an providing to Me, with out need for its outcomes, is taken into account to be in Sattva Guna.”
— Srimad Bhagavatam 11.25.23
“mad-arpaṇaṁ niṣphalaṁ vā sāttvikaṁ nija-karma tat”
Bhakti Yoga is the trail of devotion. Once you supply your actions to the Divine with out anticipating rewards, it brings inside peace, humility, and religious readability. This quiet give up uplifts the guts and calms the thoughts.
Practising Bhakti Yoga deepens your reference to the upper self. It purifies the intention behind your actions and shifts your focus from ego to devotion. This naturally will increase Sattva Guna, nurturing qualities like compassion, religion, and inside contentment.
Conclusion
In accordance with the Samkhya faculty of philosophy, nobody is solely sattvic. Each particular person carries a mixture of all three gunas Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Our behaviour displays the guna that’s most dominant inside us.
We aren’t born with a hard and fast dominance of anybody guna. It’s our day by day actions, habits, and selections that form which guna turns into outstanding. By consciously altering these actions and aligning them with purity, reality, and steadiness, we will regularly enhance the affect of Sattva Guna in our lives..
