Bhagavad Gita - Swami Sarvapriyananda
Jan 31, 2026 · 1 hr 13 min · 20 segments
Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches verses 23-25 from the fourteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks by Swami Sarvapriyananda on the Bhagavad Gita, 'the Song of God,' unfolds the highest…
Swami SarvapriyanandaHostShreyansGuestArvindGuestKiranGuestHe says, uh, the person who has gone beyond the three gunas, how do we know when somebody has gone beyond the three gunas? He says, uh, [speaking Sanskrit].
The characteristics of the three gunas, the characteristic, the effect of sattva guna is knowledge, is peace, joy, all of which we generally think as being spiritual condition.
Raja guna is known as it, by its effects, which is dynamism, energy, restlessness, uh, attachment, and tamo guna, which is dullness, laziness, or inertness.
How do you know when a person transcends these? He says, [speaking Sanskrit].
When these appe- appear, the enlightened one, the one who has transcended these gunas, does not resist it, does not, uh, complain or grumble about it.
Um, you know, the, the general complaint of a person on a spiritual path when, when we are seeking is, "Oh, my mind is restless.
Oh, why can't I control my mind? Oh, why do I react in these ways? Why, uh, am I, uh, irritable or unhappy? Or why am I lazy? Am I not up and doing my sadhana? Why don't I feel like..." What are we complaining about? We're complaining about rajas and tamas.
That does not mean that the enlightened one will, um, be just like us, rajasic or tamasic or dull or lazy.
What is being pointed out here is even that sattva doesn't define them.
From their own perspective, that sattva is a condition of the body-mind, and it may be superseded for a while by something else, and then it will cycle back again.
So this is, uh, this is a deep insight into the inner workings of enlightenment from the enlightened one's perspective.
He asked another question also, Arjuna, "How do we know from the behavior, from what we can observe?" So that question is going to be answered next in three verses, twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-five.
He says, uh, the person who has gone beyond the three gunas, how do we know when somebody has gone beyond the three gunas? He says, uh, [speaking Sanskrit].
The characteristics of the three gunas, the characteristic, the effect of sattva guna is knowledge, is peace, joy, all of which we generally think as being spiritual condition.
Raja guna is known as it, by its effects, which is dynamism, energy, restlessness, uh, attachment, and tamo guna, which is dullness, laziness, or inertness.
How do you know when a person transcends these? He says, [speaking Sanskrit].
When these appe- appear, the enlightened one, the one who has transcended these gunas, does not resist it, does not, uh, complain or grumble about it.
Um, you know, the, the general complaint of a person on a spiritual path when, when we are seeking is, "Oh, my mind is restless.
Oh, why can't I control my mind? Oh, why do I react in these ways? Why, uh, am I, uh, irritable or unhappy? Or why am I lazy? Am I not up and doing my sadhana? Why don't I feel like..." What are we complaining about? We're complaining about rajas and tamas.
That does not mean that the enlightened one will, um, be just like us, rajasic or tamasic or dull or lazy.
What is being pointed out here is even that sattva doesn't define them.
From their own perspective, that sattva is a condition of the body-mind, and it may be superseded for a while by something else, and then it will cycle back again.
So this is, uh, this is a deep insight into the inner workings of enlightenment from the enlightened one's perspective.
He asked another question also, Arjuna, "How do we know from the behavior, from what we can observe?" So that question is going to be answered next in three verses, twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-five.
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