Shrimad Bhagvad Gita (श्रीमद भगवद गीता) provides a pathway for mastering the citta (चित्त:), mind by its inscrutable analysis of karma (कर्म), action that revolves on the idea of the three gunas (गुण), traits of sattva (सत्त्व:), rajas (राजस:)& tamas (तामसः) and their effects on the mind of kařta (कर्ता), the doer and the final transcendence of these gunas by a self-exceeding culmination of the highest sattvic (सात्त्विकः) discipline.
Gita in chapter six says that for one who has mastered the mind, the highest goal is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honour and dishonour are all the same.
जितात्मन: प्रशान्तस्य परमात्मा समाहित:।
शीतोष्णसुखदु:खेषु तथा मानापमानयो: ।।
jitātmanaḥ praśāntasya paramātmā samāhitaḥ।
śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu tathā mānāpamānayoḥ।।
The reason Bhagwan chose Arjuna for the divine recital of Bhagvad Gita is Arjuna’s potentiality of mastering his mind. Bhagwan knew Arjuna would be an ideal student who has already mastered art of gaining material wealth Dhananjaya (धनंजय), has conquered sleep Guḍākeśa (गुडाकेश), never returns from the battlefield without defeating the enemy Vijaya (विजय) and though Arjuna has doubts about killing his own kin but he has the ability to master his mind and can be made to follow the path of dharma.
Faith, Śraddhā (श्रद्धा), the will to believe and to be, know and do what we see as the Truth is the indispensable condition of a self-developing karma and the growth of the soul by doing good karma (कर्म). The mental powers, instruments, and conditions that shape the momentum, direction, and character of karma are therefore essential to mastering the mind. The understanding of karma cast in the type of the gunas will allow the kařta, doer to elevate his Citta, mind to the highest sattvic state and beyond.
Gita says that mind can be mastered by the liberating activity of the sattvic self-discipline that must be pervaded by a spirit of renunciation, but what renunciation? Not the renunciation of karma in the world, not any outward asceticism or pretention of the giving up of enjoyment, sannyāsa (संन्यास), but a renunciation, a leaving, tyāga (त्याग) of vital desire, of ahamkarā (अहंकार), ego, a total laying aside or giving up of the personal life of the desire and ego governed mind. True renunciation does not require giving up desirable action but letting go of the desire that makes action desirable. The fruit of action may come, but it should not be demanded as a reward or condition for work; if it does not come, the work must still be done because it is the right thing to do. In the end, all karma, all action, must be surrendered—not outwardly through abstention, immobility, or inertia, but inwardly and spiritually. This means renouncing the false belief that we are the kařta, the doer of karma, when in truth it is the Divine, the universal Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) that acts through our ego. That spiritual transference of the karma, action to the Brahman is the real renunciation or tyāga in the teachings of the Gita.
Then a question may arise what karma, works are to be done? Some would have it that all works must be expunged from our life, as if that were possible. But it is not possible so long as we are embodied and alive, and salvation does not consist in reducing our active selves by trance to the lifeless immobility of the clod and the stone; as soon as the breath comes again in the body, we are in action again and have toppled down from the heights of this salvation by samadhi (समाधि), spiritual sleep. But the salvation by the inner renunciation of the ego and union with the Brahman remains steady in whatever state, in this world or out of it; it is self-existent and does not depend upon inaction or action. What then are the actions to be done? More generally, Gita mandates three types of actions that need to be done. First one is the rightly regulated action, niyataṁ karma (नियतं कर्म), that has to be done, the actions regulated by the Shastra (शास्त्र), second one is regulated by the science and art of right knowledge, act and life, or by the essential nature, svabhāva-niyataṁ karma (स्वभावनियतंकर्म), or, finally, regulated by the will of the Divine, and the last is the action of the liberated mind, muktasya karma (मुक्तस्य कर्म). To renounce these works is not right, the Gita lays that down plainly and trenchantly in the end.
नियतस्य तु सन्न्यासः कर्मणो नोपपद्यते
niyatasya tu sannyāsaḥ karmaṇo nopapadyate.
To renounce any of these works under the delusion that withdrawal alone can bring true liberation is tamasicrenunciation, for the gunas follow us into both action and inaction. Attachment to inaction, sańgo akarmaņi (सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि), is also a tamasic withdrawal. Giving up work because it brings sorrow, bodily hardship, mental fatigue, or a feeling that all is vanity is rajasic renunciation; it does not yield the highest spiritual fruit. Such renunciation arises from vital weariness or intellectual pessimism, remains rooted in ego, and cannot lead to freedom. Sattvic renunciation means doing karma not from desire, but from the law of right living, one’s essential nature, faith in truth, śraddhā, or the will of the Divine, with the mind established in Yoga. It acts without personal attachment to the fruit or to the action itself—without desire, egoistic choice, or even the subtle egoism that says, “The work is mine, I am the doer,” or “The work is God’s, but I am the doer.” One must not cling to pleasant, desirable, profitable, or successful work; when it is the work that should be done, kartavyam karma, it must be performed wholly, selflessly, and with the assent of the spirit. Nor should one shrink from unpleasant, undesirable, or unrewarding work, or from action that may bring suffering, danger, or difficult consequences; when such work is necessary, it too must be done fully, selflessly, and with understanding. The mastered mind, having inwardly surrendered karma through tyāga to the greater Power, Brahman, is free from bondage to action. It still acts, because some action—small or great—is natural, inevitable, and right for the embodied soul; action is the divine law of life. The essence of renunciation, the true tyāga, is a disinterested soul and selfless mind: the passage from ego to a free, impersonal, spiritual nature. This inner renunciation is the first condition of the highest sattvic discipline in mastering the mind.
The understanding of the nature of karma, action is key to mastering the mind. The Gita speaks of the five causes or necessities required for the accomplishment of works as laid down by the Sankhya school of thought. The first one is the frame of body, life and mind which are the basis or standing-ground of the atman, self, adhiṣṭhāna (अधिष्ठानम्). Then comes the doer, kařta (कर्ता), then various instrumentation of prakriti, nature, karaña (करणम्), the many kinds of effort which make up the force of action, ceṣṭāḥ (चेष्टाः) and lastly fate, daivam (दैवम्) that is to say, the influence of the powers other than human or the cosmic law which stand behind and modify the work and dispose its fruits in the steps of act and consequence. These five things are the causes of the shaping and outcome of whatever work a doer undertakes with body, mind and speech. The kařta, doer is ordinarily supposed to be the personal self, but that is the idea of those whose understanding has not arrived at knowledge. The ostensible doer is indeed the ahamkara, ego, but the ego and its will are creations and instruments of prakriti (प्रकृति), mental nature with which the understanding identifies self. Once the mind has been mastered then liberated from ego the real self behind, impersonal and universal, sees in its self-vision of unity ekàm (एकम्), with the universal Spirit, Brahman as the doer of the work. And so long as we have not this knowledge, we are bound by the character of the ego and its will as the doer and we do good and evil and have the satisfaction of our tamasic, rajasic or sattvic nature. But once mind has been mastered, the character and consequences of the karma make no difference to the freedom of the spirit. Even when the outward work appears dreadful, as in the great war and carnage of Kurukshetra (कुरुक्षेत्र), the liberated one, like Arjuna, may take part in the struggle without being inwardly bound by it. Though he acts and may even slay, he does not truly slay, because the action is already held in the Divine will. He performs his appointed work as a living instrument of the atman, one in spirit with the universal Spirit, Brahman. Seeing beyond outward appearance, he acts neither for himself nor from himself, but with awareness of the Divine presence and power working through his deeds. He knows that the Supreme acts through the mental, vital, and physical body, the adhiṣṭhāna, as the sole doer, fulfilling what seems like Fate but is in truth the wise, all-seeing Will at work in human karma. This horrible choice of dharmic karma around which the Gita’s teaching turns, is an extreme example of action that appears inauspicious, akuśalam (अकुशल), while a greater good, kuśala (कुशल), lies beyond its surface. Such action must be done impersonally by the divinely appointed person for the preservation of the world-purpose, loka-saṅgrahārtham (लोकसङ्ग्रहार्थम्), without personal aim or desire, because it is the appointed service, kartavyam karma. Thus, it is not the outward work alone that matters; the knowledge and consciousness with which karma is performed make the decisive spiritual difference in mastering the mind.
There are three things, says the Gita, which go to constitute the mental impulsion to karma, and they are the Gyan (ज्ञान), knowledge in our will, Gyey (ज्ञेय), the object of knowledge and the Gyata (ज्ञाता)
ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं परिज्ञाता त्रिविधा कर्मचोदना ।
jñānaṁ jñeyaṁ parijñātā trividhā karmacodanā,
The three gunas operate within knowledge itself, shaping how the knower sees the object known and the spirit in which action is performed. Tamasic knowledge is narrow and ignorant: it fails to perceive the true nature of the world, the action, its field, its conditions, or its consequences. The tamasic mind clings stubbornly to a single action, sees only the narrow field of personal activity before it, and acts blindly under natural impulse, without foresight, understanding, or awareness of results. Rajasic knowledge sees multiplicity only as separateness and variety; it cannot discover unity or harmonise will and action. Governed by ego and desire, it follows scattered motives and responds restlessly to inner and outer impulses. Its knowledge is a forced arrangement of partial truths, seeking a path through confusion, or else a busy, many-sided activity without a firm higher ideal or self-governing light. Sattvic knowledge, by contrast, sees existence as one indivisible whole within all divisions, one imperishable being within becoming. It understands the principle of action, relates each particular act to the larger purpose of existence, and places every step within the total process. At its highest, this knowledge becomes the vision of the one Spirit in the world, the one Supreme present in all beings, and of action itself as the working of the Divine will and wisdom in human life. The conscious will then live and acts in that One, becoming a clearer instrument of its light and power. Liberated action arises from this culmination of sattvic knowledge.
And there are again three things which make up the holding together of karma these three are the kařta (कर्ता), the doer, karañam (करणम्) the instrument and karma (कर्म), the work done itself. And here again the difference of the gunas determines the character of each of these things.
करणं कर्म कर्तेति त्रिविधः कर्मसङ्ग्रहः
karaṇaṁ karma karteti trividhaḥ karmasaṅgrahaḥ.
The tamasic kařta, or doer, acts through a mind shaped by ignorance, inertia, and blind impulse, and therefore undertakes tamasic karma. Such a doer does not truly give himself to the work; he acts mechanically, routinely, obstinately, or with imprudent pride in his own ignorance. In place of true intelligence there may be narrow cunning, insolent contempt for others, laziness, delay, lack of vigour, and absence of sincerity. The tamasicperson is usually slow to act, hesitant in effort, easily discouraged, and quick to abandon the task. His tamasickaraña, the reasoning instrument, is false, darkened, and ignorant; it binds the doer to a distorted view of things, clouded by misconception and unable to recognise true values. It calls light darkness and darkness light, mistakes what is not law for law, and insists on doing what ought not to be done. Its ignorance is obstinate, and it will persist in the pride and satisfaction of that ignorance. This blind action is also weighed down by inertia: dullness, sleep, fear, pain, and depression hinder the doer or keep him in weak, evasive, and cowardly ways. Timidity, shirking, indolence, false caution, refusal of duty, and avoidance of the higher call of nature all mark the tamasic will and intelligence. It prefers the least effort and least danger, even if the result is poor or fruitless, rather than undertake demanding or perilous labour. The tamasic mind can even take pleasure in its inertia, blindness, error, stupor, and sleep. Under the influence of tamasic guna, it finds a dull satisfaction in ignorance, in dim and narrow lights, and in petty, base, or inert enjoyments. Delusion is both the source and result of this satisfaction; yet the dweller in the cave still finds enough pleasure in his delusion to remain there. The resulting tamasic karma is action undertaken by such a confused, deluded, and ignorant mind, mechanically obeying instinct, impulse, and unseeing ideas, without regard for capacity, wasted effort, right conditions, consequences, or the true demands of the work.
The rajasic kařta, or doer, uses the ego-driven will of desire as the dominant karaña, the instrument through which rajasic karma is undertaken. Such a doer is intensely attached to the work and eager for its fruit. He is greedy at heart, impure in mind, and often harsh, violent, or cruel in his methods, caring little whom he harms so long as he gains what he wants, satisfies his passions, and upholds the claims of his ego. Success fills him with exultation; failure leaves him bitter, wounded, and despondent. The rajasic karaña can distinguish, to some degree, between right and wrong or between what should and should not be done, but it does so imperfectly. Its judgement is distorted because its reason serves the ego and its will is ruled by desire. These powers repeatedly misrepresent truth and right action in order to support their own aims. Only one who is free from ego and desire, and who sees with a calm, pure, and disinterested mind devoted to truth alone, can perceive things in their proper value. The rajasic will, however, fixes itself on the satisfaction of its attachments and desires, pursuing interest, pleasure, and whatever it chooses to call right or just, Dharma. It habitually interprets these ideas in ways that flatter and justify desire, and it legitimises whatever means best secure the desired fruits of action. The rajasic mind drinks from a fierier and more intoxicating cup: the keen, restless pleasures of the senses, the body, and the desire-bound will and intelligence give life intensity and delight. At first this pleasure tastes like nectar, but poison lies at the bottom—disappointment, satiety, fatigue, revolt, disgust, sin, suffering, loss, and transience. The resulting rajasic karma is action done under the rule of desire, with the doer’s eyes fixed on the work and its hoped-for reward, or with an egoistic sense of personal importance in the work. It is carried out with excessive effort, passionate labour, and the strenuous pressure of the personal will seeking the object of its desire.
The sattvic kařta, doer is free from attachment and ego. He remains unelated by success and undisturbed by failure, working with steady, impersonal resolve, calm rectitude, and pure, selfless enthusiasm for the task that ought to be done. At the height of sattva, this resolve becomes the spontaneous action of spiritual tapas—the highest soul-force, the God-Power moving through man as a sure divine energy and as the delight of the free spirit acting through a liberated nature. In human life, reason and intelligent will operate according to the measure and quality of one’s development: they may be right or distorted, clouded or luminous, narrow or wide. The buddhi (बुद्धि) is the power that chooses, approves, or sanctions action among the many suggestions of instinct, impulse, idea, and desire. It determines what is right or wrong, what is Dharma (धर्म) or not Dharma, what should be done and what should be avoided. The persistence of the will is the continuing force of prakriti, mental nature, that sustains action. The sattvic karaña sees clearly the movement of the world, the law of action and restraint, what is to be done and not done, what endangers the soul and what is safe, just, and right, what binds the spirit and what sets it free. According to its degree of light and its stage of evolution, it follows or avoids these things with a steady will on its ascent toward the highest Self and Spirit. The culmination of this sattvic intelligence is a firm buddhi fixed on what lies beyond reason and mental will: control of the senses and life, and union through Yoga with the highest self, the universal Divine, and the transcendent Spirit. Through perfected sattva, one can pass beyond the gunas, beyond the limits of mind, will, and intelligence, into firm union with the Self, the Spirit, the Godhead. At that summit, the sattvic doer leaves the Highest to guide prakriti in free and divine action. Lower laws and dharmas no longer bind him; the Infinite acts through the liberated person who has mastered the mind, and there remains no bondage of karma, only the immortal truth and right of the free spirit. The mark of the sattvic temperament is happiness: clear contentment, ease, peace, and calm joy. All human beings seek happiness, or some substitute for it—pleasure, enjoyment, satisfaction of mind, passion, body, or will. Pain is accepted only when necessary or as a means to an end and is sought for its own sake only through perversity or a fierce delight in suffering. The sattvic mind seeks the satisfaction of the higher mind and spirit; when it attains this, a pure happiness of the soul arises, a state of fullness, ease, and peace that depends not on outward things but on oneself. Yet this happiness is not usually possessed at first. It must be gained through self-discipline, inner labour, and arduous effort. In the beginning this may involve the loss of habitual pleasures, struggle, suffering, and the resistance of prakriti to change; but in the end, the nectar of immortality replaces the poison of the struggle. Rising into the higher spiritual nature, the sattvic person comes to the end of sorrow, grief, and pain. This surpassing happiness is the fruit of perfected sattvic discipline. The resulting sattvic karma is action performed calmly, with reason, knowledge, and an impersonal sense of duty and right. It is done because it ought to be done, whatever the outward result may be, and without attachment, liking, or dislike. Its satisfaction lies in clarity, right reason, pure intelligence, steady will, and a disinterested mind. At the culmination of sattva, this becomes impersonal action dictated by the spirit within and fulfilling the highest law of nature. Freed from ego, opinion, desire, and personal will, the action is guided only by clear self-knowledge, knowledge of the power that acts, and knowledge of the work to be done for the world.
The sattvic mind is the governing instrument of the sattvic man and guides him to do the right thing; but the instrument of the liberated man who has mastered his mind is a higher spiritual light and power which works in him and uses as a clear channel of its force the purified mind, body and life. The self-exceeding of the sattvicnature comes when we get beyond the great but still lesser sattvic pleasure, the pleasures of şaț (सत्), eternal truth and virtue and peace to the eternal calm of the self and the spiritual ecstasy of the divine oneness, ekàm. At this stage even mastering the Citta, mind seems a trivial undertaking while one bathes in Supreme bliss. In this absolute blissful stage, spiritual joy is no longer the sattvic happiness, sukham (सुखम्), but the absolute Ananda (आनन्द). The Ananda is the secret delight from which all things are born, by which all is sustained in existence, and to which all can rise in the spiritual culmination. Only then can this absolute state be possessed when the liberated man free from ego and its desires lives at last in his true self, şaț (सत्) and rejoices in the knowledge of oneness with all beings and Supreme, Citta and in an absolute bliss of the spirit, Anandaidentifies his self in the supreme state of Sachidananda (सच्चिदानन्द).
Sanskrit Glossary of Key Terms
| Term | Devanagari | Meaning in Context |
| Ātman | आत्मन् | The true Self or inner spiritual being. |
| Ahamkāra | अहंकार | Ego-sense; the false identification of the self as the individual doer. |
| Ananda | आनन्द | Absolute spiritual bliss beyond ordinary happiness. |
| Brahman | ब्रह्मन् | The universal and transcendent Divine reality. |
| Buddhi | बुद्धि | Discerning intelligence that judges, chooses, and sanctions action. |
| Citta | चित्त | Mind-consciousness; the inner field to be mastered. |
| Dharma | धर्म | Right law, duty, truth of action, or sustaining principle. |
| Guna | गुण | A quality or mode of nature: sattva, rajas, or tamas. |
| Karma | कर्म | Action, work, or deed performed through body, mind, and speech. |
| Kartā | कर्ता | The doer, whether ego-bound or liberated as an instrument of the Divine. |
| Karaṇa | करणम् | The instrument or means through which action is carried out. |
| Prakriti | प्रकृति | Nature or mental-vital-physical force that acts through the being. |
| Rajas | रजस् | The guna of desire, passion, activity, restlessness, and ego-driven effort. |
| Sattva | सत्त्व | The guna of clarity, harmony, knowledge, peace, and luminous discipline. |
| Tamas | तमस् | The guna of ignorance, inertia, obscurity, confusion, and resistance. |
| Sannyāsa | संन्यास | Renunciation, especially outward abandonment of works or enjoyments. |
| Tyāga | त्याग | Inner renunciation of desire, ego, and attachment to action and its fruits. |
| Śraddhā | श्रद्धा | Faith: the will to believe, become, know, and act according to truth. |
| Yoga | योग | Union with the Divine and disciplined mastery of consciousness and action. |
| Sacchidānanda | सच्चिदानन्द | The supreme state of Being, Consciousness, and Bliss. |
