Hare Krsna
Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Sattvik Bhakti
Rajsik Bhakti
Tamasik Bhakti
Suddha Bhakti (We will take up this in our next mail)
Sāttvika"pure", Rajasika "dim", and Tamasika "dark"
We take up worship of the Lord based on our gunas, Sattvik worhip Rajasik worship or Tamasic worship
In Sattvik Worship the presiding deity of Sattva Guna "Vishnu" and the result of such worship is that the bhakti of the bhakta is called Sattvik Bhakti.
In Rajasic Worship the presiding deity of Rajo Guna is "Brahma" and the result of such worship is that the bhakti of the bhakta is called Rajasic Bhakti.
In Tamasic Worship the presideing deity of Tamo Guna is "Siva" are and the result of such worship is that the bhakti of the bhakta is called Tamasic Bhakti.
Sattvik Qualities
For an object or food to be sāttvika, it must be uncontaminated and should not spread evil or disease in the
world. On the contrary its presence must purify the surroundings. Thus when an individual consumes such a
food, he must feel that he is eating pure food. The food should be healthy, nutritious and clean. It should
also not weaken the power or equilibrium of mind. It also disallows food or objects obtained after killing or
causing pain to a creature. This is because the object would then have source in an evil act. It also excludes
stale and pungent-smelling food.
Some objects that are considered sāttvika are:
- Flowers, fruits, and food that are allowed as offerings to God
- Neem tree
- The milk of a cow which has grown in good surroundings, is healthy and has been obtained after the calf of the cow has been fed well. In cases when the cow has been ill treated, it becomes sinful or evil to drink such milk (Note that the cow is sacred and a pious animal always serves every soul and helps develop the finer tissues of the brain for inquiring into the knowledge of transcendence.
- Nature has always had a connotation with being sattvika. Because of this, Hindu philosophy does not encourage the eating of animals, or the destruction of nature and its habitats.
Sattva is a state of mind in which the mind is steady, calm and peaceful. A sattvika man or woman works with no attachment to the result.
Sāttvika individuals always work for the welfare of the world. They are hardworking, alert, generous. They live life moderately, and have good memory and concentration. Sattvic qualities include leading a chaste life, eating moderately, using precise language and speaking truths palatably. A sattvic individual speaks compliments and avoids vulgar or insulting language, is never jealous, and is unaffected by greed and selfishness. Such an individual is confident and experiences abundance. It is not in the nature of a sattvic individual to cheat or mislead others. A sattvic person will show what is and describe destinations, but then allow others to choose for themselves. A sattvic person does not allow evil tendencies to enter his or her mind but supports an inner paradise that broadcasts out to the world; he or she will have keen interest in improving spiritual knowledge and will spend time worshiping divinity or meditating and, in an extreme state, may even perform penance or uninterrupted meditation. A sattvic individual can be recognized if their mind, speech and actions synchronize: manasa , vacha , Karmana are the three Sanskrit words used to describe such a state.
Rajasic Qualities
If a person or thing tends to be extremely active, excitable, or passionate, that person or thing could be said to have a preponderance of rajas. It is contrasted with the quality of tamas which is the quality of inactivity, darkness, and laziness, and with sattva, which is the quality of purity, clarity, calmness and creativity. Rajas is viewed as being more positive than tamas, and less positive than sattva, except, perhaps, for one who has "transcended the gunas" and achieved equanimity in all fields of relative life. The rajas stage of life gives a slight clue to the realization of the Absolute Truth in the forms of fine sentiments in philosophy, culture with moral and ethical principles, but the mode of sattva is a still higher stage of material quality, which actually helps one in realizing the Absolute truth.
Tamasik Bhakti
A tamasic life would be marked by laziness, irresponsibility, cheating, maliciousness, insensitivity, criticizing and finding
fault, frustration, aimless living, lack of logical thinking or planning, and making excuses Tamasic activities include
overeating, oversleeping and/or the consumption of drugs and alcohol.
The tamasic sastras give instructions for the sacrifice of an animal like a goat or buffalo before the goddess Kali, but there is no mention of killing a man, however dull he may be.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 5.9.15
"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." The Lord is situated in everyone's heart as Sankarsana, and when a demon thinks himself one with the Supreme Lord, the Lord keeps him in that darkness. Although such a demoniac living entity is only an insignificant part of the Supreme Lord, he forgets his true position and thinks he is the Supreme Lord. Because this forgetfulness is created by Sankarsana, He is sometimes called tamasi. The name tamasi does not indicate that He has a material body. He is always transcendental, but because He is the Supersoul of Lord Siva, who must perform tamasic activities, Sankarsana is sometimes called tamasi.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 5.25.1
Tamasic or tamas, or darkness, means just like a person is attacked with tuberculosis, but he doesn't care for it. But intelligent man goes to the physician, asks that "Why I am suffering? What is the medicine?" That is intelligence.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.50 --
Note:
All of the above are but still part of Karma Kandiya. Those who are engaged in devotional service, they are not under karma.
Please at your lisure read ch 14 of Bg that gives more information on the gunas.
Ahar(Food) Nidra(Sleep)Bhaya (Fear) & Maithuna(Sex life) - If you see the order it is observed taht kind of food leads to the kind of sleep either moderate excessive or less and from the kind of sleep bhaya takes root and the seed is sex life.
Regulated sex life is recommended for grihastas only other three classes no sexlife,that is Bramacharya, Vanprasta & Sannyasis sex life is forbidden. The order can move from the rare end also. Based on the desire of sex life attachment devlops and the fear to loose evolves and that effects our sleep patters as prescribed in the sastras and the result of all the three is going to depress us and our eating habits go out of order. either we over eat or under eat.
In Patanjalis Yoga sutra in the section on niyama, there is a word called tapas. Tapas here includes ahara niyama - right food but in limited quantity. So, niyama which is a personal discipline includes regulation of food habits.
So we can say that if you eat a particular type of animal food, you will tend towards the personality of that animal. By observing your behaviour you can see in what ways the food you have eaten has stimulated your particular personality.
The pig is a very nice animal and in Asia is almost treated like a dog around the house. Though a very interesting animal, it has defects: it eats and eats and eats! Some people I know behave in this way, and I have discovered that they are great pork lovers. Goats too are very interesting animals, who love to bang their heads together. There are many human beings who like doing the same thing, and develop this propensity by eating goats' meat.
The big fish tends to eat the small one. In this era of the capitalist ethic, there are difficulties in world socio-economic conditions precisely because the big fish wants to eat the small one.
In conclusion, our human personalities depend to some extent on the food we eat.
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