Three gunas

From Rigpa Wiki
Revision as of 08:52, 23 May 2009 by Sébastien (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Three gunas (Wyl. yon tan gsum) — mentioned in the Samkhya philosophy:

  1. rajas (Wyl. rdul)
  2. tamas (Wyl. mun pa)
  3. sattva (Wyl. snying stobs)

Translations

  • S. Dasgupta, in his A History of Indian Philosophy, translates sattva as “intelligence stuff”, rajas as “energy-stuff” and tamas as “mass-stuff.”
  • In their translation of the Bodhicharyavatara, the Padmakara Translation Group call sattva “pleasure”, rajas “pain” and tamas “neutrality”.
  • Jeffrey Hopkins translates them more literally as motility or activity (rajas), darkness (tamas) and lightness (sattva).