The basics

Chapter 1
The Three worlds

The material world is divided into three realms known as the upper middle and lower planetary systems. All the inhabitants of those various places are of different mental dispositions and moral character. Some souls wish to serve the lord in a very direct way and have pure hearts and are full of mercy for others. They are empowered by the lord to be put in very powerful positions. They live in the upper section of the material universe which is called Swarga or heaven.
The king of heaven is called Indra. He is the master of the three worlds and one of the most merciful souls in the universe, for he brings the rain which is the source of all life. It is described in the oldest Veda; once a fierce dragon named Vritra swallowed all the rain clouds and entered a massive fortress with 100 walls. The earth became dry and the people cried for help. The gods assembled together and prayed. Indra was born at that time. He was effulgent “the son of power”. He was given the thunderbolt weapon and went to slay Vritra. With his thunderbolt he destroyed the fortress and killed the great Dragon. When the Dragon was killed the clouds were released. After that he was called Maghavan or the lord of the clouds. The Vedas are full of his praise and he was once one of the most honored deities on this planet. It says in the Rig veda


yasman na rte vijayante janaso
yam yudhayaman avase havante
yo visvat ya pratimam babhuva
yo acut cut sa janasaindra



“Without his mercy who can have victory? When in the midst of battle we call on you for help. You are the master of this universe for you can do what is impossible. You are Indra”


He brings the rain and victory and was praised by all the kings of the earth and worshiped throughout the world. he has been called Zeus, Jupiter and Thor just to name a few.
His kingdom is Swarga and within that realm is his own planet called Indraloka or the world of Indra. Within that effulgent planet is the golden city of Amravati which is his capital. Within the city of Amravati is the great Deva-Sabha or assembly hall of the gods. Indra sits as king. Bhrihaspati the master of the planet Jupiter is his chief priest. Mukyaprana is the spiritual master of the assembly The gods all sit in attendance and discuss how to aid God in the universe. Various angelic beings sing hyms of praise and play music. The gods are praised and worshiped because they are divinely empowered by the one ultimate supreme personality. They are given there positions because they are chosen from the souls for there qualitys of service and mercy.
The gods guard the universe from the forces of chaos and destruction establishing the great balance. There are two great clans of beings; The Devas or gods and the Asuras or demons. This history is explained in the Mahabharata and I shall describe it in brief. There was once a great sage who was empowered by God to have divine children. He was named Kasyapa muni. He had two wives. One was named Diti and the other was named Aditi. With his wife Aditi Kasyapa muni had his first set of sons the devas. They were pious and religious and devoted to God. Diti was envious and that envy was born as her children the demons. They hated the devas and waged a horrible war. Brahma performed a great sacrifice and from the spiritual world a great sword was given from the hands of God himself. The sword was given to Rudra or the god of anger who slaughtered the demons and sent them into the dark regions of the universe. There has been a great struggle ever since and this is the whole point of the Mahabharata war and this is going on right now.

The middle planetary system is the place we live in now, it is the abode of men, there are many planets and realms with men who have various levels of spiritual and material advancement. It is the realm of action. Human life is the point from which we make actions. We choose our fututre by our actions. This should be easy to observe. Karma is action. What decisions we make now affect our future, this is the way of this realm. By good action or good karma, we get good results. Bad action or Vikarma is the cause of bad results. Akarma is trancendental action or action which is beyond good and bad. All those who live in Swarga are enjoying there good Karma, All those in the lower regions are suffering there Vikarma. This is the opportunity for us to choose what kind of life we want to live.

The Three Gunas


This realm is a mixture of various mental dispositions or Gunas. Guna also means rope and the example is given that the Gunas pull the living entity in various directions. There are three Gunas.. Satvic, Rajasic, and Tamasic. This is described in detail in various sections of the Mahabharata

Satvaguna is called goodness but that is a very brief description. Satvaguna is a kind of contentment that comes when one knows that what they are doing is what they are supposed to do. It is a kind of inner power which is constantly growing. It can be seen in knowledge, joy, and fulfillment. It is the force of maintenance. Krishna explains tatra sattvam nirmalatvat prakaskam anamayam sukha-sangera badhnati jnana-sangena canagha “Satvaguna is the purest in the material world. It brings illumination and is free from any sinful reaction. It is associated with happiness and knowledge “ Bhagavad gita 14.6

Application

We shouldn’t be childish in our view of what is goodness. I could try and sell you some kind of sentimental practice or quick fix solution or magic mantra to save your soul. But that is not the truth. Goodness is not merely knowledge and peaceful behavior. I think it is proper now to talk a little about the Devas because they are embodiment of satvaguna. They bring rain and sun and maintain the whole of creation, however part of that maintenance is fighting the demons. They live in opulent beautiful surroundings and enjoy a life which is thousands of times more pleasurable than ours. This is all part of goodness. This is the contentment that comes from a Godly life. According to the Tatvavadis the gods are pure devotees of the lord. Some people think that living a life of renunciation in the forest is spiritual or that when one simply cries for the mercy of the lord and becomes a tool in his hand that is the highest form of devotion. Seriously I ask a truthful question to any person who speaks in such a way. What would please a father more? A son who is completely dependent on him and who cannot act on his own and who is always calling for help. Or one who can take care of himself and knows how to act in the right way and who can contribute to the whole of society. This is a simple question. The Devas are such sons of God who are empowered divine representatives.


Rajaguna is called passion. It is a state of confusion and desire. Rajaguna is a state in which one cannot tell what to do and what not to do. They are usually controlled by others, mostly because they don’t have a center of balance. They are always searching for but never finding what they want. Krishna says lobhah pravrttr arambhah karmanam asamah sprha rajasy etani jayante vivrddhe bharatarsabha “O best of the descendants of Bharata greed, hankering, over endeavor and uncontrollable desire is to be found in the activity of one who has been overcome with the Rajaguna” Bhagavad-Gita 14.12

Application

The being which embodies the force of Rajaguna is the Asuras. It can be easy to see the connections between demons and fanatics with a explanation. The Demons see the Godly force of the Devas and desire to sit on the throne of Indra, which is a most honorable position. They envy the force of goodness because they desire it, like anything. This desire to be good, causes them to think some how or other they can steal the throne of Indra by there own power. However they are always kicked off by God in one of his incarnations. They are like people who are not good in the first place and who try so hard but cannot be that way. I have seen that they end up either pretending to be pure, like the Salvationist, which is hypocrisy or torture themselves there whole life,. Like the bogus Vedantist which is suicidal.
Rajaguna religions tend to be over emotional, fanatical and closed minded. When you ask them practical questions and try and explain the simple truth about life then they will often quote there God, Guru, or Savior and say that only what he says is what they will ever believe and that faith is what will carry them to the other side. I cannot disagree with that statement because I have complete faith in what my Guru says also. At the same time it is a essential satvic law to be open minded and free of pre judgment. Madvacarya says na chanubhava virodhe agamasya pramanyamh Scripture has no validity if opposed to experience
The solution is balanced and simple, but that don’t mean it’s easy. Simple and balanced things are usually never easy for people who are out of balance. God has created a system of harmony and balance in nature. It is like a great machine which continues for eternity. People are part of this great machine. There are four occupational classes which have been created by the lord. Anyone who takes shelter in there duty need have no fear in the next life. Krishna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita in several places saha-jam karma kaunteya sa-dosam api na tyajet sarvarambha hi dosena dhumenagnir ivavrtah “every endeavor is covered by some sort of fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up his work which is born of his nature even if such work is full of fault.” Bhagavad-gita 18.48 and Sreyan sva-dharmo vigunah para-dharmat svanusthitat svabhava-niyatam karma kurvan napnoti kilbisam “it is better to engage in one’s own occupation even though one may preform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation and perform it perfectly. Perscribed duties, according to one’s nature, are never affected by sinful reactions” Bhagavad-gita 18.47 . Those who are in the Rajaguna and who always desire something, they should simply take shelter in there occupational calling. Understanding that all people will fallow there nature and should therefore have no judgment for them self or others. This is the actual Vedic solution. They will make amazing amounts of actual spiritual progress by acting in this way. God has created the Varnasram system or occupational classes so that all the different people can live in harmony. As long as people do not fear themselves or God but accept the universe and continue acting by the dictates of there duty, by such faith in the all present and all powerful lord and by the grace of God they will be able to lose the selfishness and other qualities which cannot be simply removed by some magic.



Tamaguna is the force of decay and destruction, it is the force which breaks things down and kills them. In the mind it is fantasy and delusion and all ideas based on dreams. It is force by which spirits and Ghost operate. While a person under the influence of Rajaguna will take action, but that action isnt well thought out. The person in the mode of Ignorance cant get beyond the imagination stage. Krishna says Yaya svapanam bhayam sokam visadam madam eva ca na vimuncati durmedha dhrtih sa partha tamasi “That determination which cannot go beyond dreaming, fearfulness lamentation moroseness and illusion-such unintelligent determination is the mode of darkness.” Bhagavad-gita 18.35 They are ignorant of what to do.

Application

Tamaguna is intoxication or any form of escape. People will use intoxication to escape reality. Intoxication comes in various forms. Basically it’s a escape from the harsh reality of life. This is actually a natural response of the untrained lazy mind. The proper response to any situation is to maintain focus. The truth is that things are never as bad as our mind makes it. When we can’t figure out how to solve the problem we escape with various ways. Attachment to a situation gives us the wrong perspective. If you embrace the present situation and take every second as a opportunity to act, then your problems can be solved. But the laziness which is the product of Tamaguna will not even reveal that as a solution. We all know what goodness is and what the proper choice is. We just don’t always know it is a option. We ignore it. Why? People in Tamaguna are usually suicidal. The reasons for this are varied but based on attachment. For example my mother abandoned us and my brother committed suicide due to a chemical imbalance. This caused me to be mentally distraught for about 5 years. I didn’t want to exist so I went to a temple and escaped the world. It was a kind of intoxication, religious intoxication but something which caused me to ignore the present situation. Fortunately I have a pretty strong will force, so I didn’t want to stop existing for that long. The whole problem was that I was expecting to much out other people. I had the crazy notion that my worth was based on my family, and when they left it caused me to believe that I didn’t deserve to exist. Now this doesn’t make any sense but the lazy uncontrolled mind never makes sense. I am actually thankful the whole thing happened because I learned allot of things and got stronger. When we love people in the wrong way everyone gets hurt. Different qualities of people react in different ways. Some people who desire there own destruction, make there work so much a part of there life they aren’t people anymore they choose to escape and become machines for there work. Others escape through Video games or Drugs or fantasy. It’s all escape of some kind or another and its all the product of tamaguna resulting from attachment and self hatred. Wither it be the monk desiring self annihilation or the bum on the street drinking himself to death, its Tamaguna.
The solution for this problem is first healing the hurt which is causing the person to want there own death. I know one person who couldn’t find out what the problem was so what they did was go to hypnosis and there subconscious simply told the doctor the problem which was something simple, (which by the way they usually always are) and the person fixed it very easily. This should be fallowed by a focus on the present and practicing enough mental control to make the determination to solve problems. Detachment is the medicine which cures the hurt. When you realize that you don’t have to depend on others for your happiness then you can actually love them on a deeper and more real, and therefore pleasing level.
Sentimental religions which try and sell quick fix solutions, usually never reveal this kind of realization. It may be interesting to note that they some times even condemn such Ideas and claim that only faith or devotion can solve these problems. Faith and devotion to God is essential and sustaining to life. But we cannot make them a crutch which causes people to make no progress in life. Hearing this argument of mine my question is which would make God happy. As Krishna says anasritah karma-phalam karyam karma karoti yah sa sanyasi ca yogi ca na niragnir na cakriya “One who works as they are obliged, they are the true renunciant and the actual mystic: not he who lights no fire or has no duty.”

Markendaya says

He that has no feeling of kindness cannot be free from sin
even if his body is pure. That hard-heartedness of his is the enemy of his austerity. Austerity, again, is not mere abstinence from the pleasures of the world. He that is always pure and decked with virtue, he that practises kindness all his life, is a Muni even though he may lead a domestic life. Such a man is certainly purged of all his sins. Fasts and other penances cannot destroy sins, however much they may weaken and dry up the body that is simply made of flesh and blood. The man whose heart is without kindness, suffers torture only, by undergoing penances in ignorance of their meaning. He is never freed from sins by such acts.

Markendaya Risi
Mahabharata Vana Parva Chapter 199




Conclution: How to trancend the three modes

In the middle planetary system these three energies are pulling the living being in various directions. This is not a conscious choice. People rarely think “I have the option to kill this person or not care, hmmmm let me think” They act on whatever happens to be influencing them the most. This influence is based on there surroundings and there previous actions. The surroundings are also based on what actions they have done. Some people live in peaceful satvic neighborhoods, for various reasons and other people live in cities full of crime and pollution. People end up where they are based actions decisions and desires. This is a basic principal of the middle planetary system, being, action creates result. The theory of reincarnation states that this continues on into the next existence. What we are doing now, we will do tomorrow. This also continues into liberation. We are acting now; we will act when we realize God. The difference being the amount of vision of everything we have. Krishna explains this quite clearly “One who is, however, taking pleasure in the self, who is illumined in the self, who rejoices in and satisfied with the self only, fully satiated-for him there is no duty. A self realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his duty, however he has no reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being. Therefore without being attached to the fruits of activity one should act as a matter of duty; for by acting without attachment one attains the supreme.” Bhagavad-Gita 3.17-19. This means that even if someone is liberated in there own body and completely self realized they are still acting. The Road and the destination is the same thing.

Lower planetary systems. The lower planetary system is the realm in which the demons live. They are Atheist and worship themself most of all. It is a dark realm which has no sunlight and no natural life, such as trees and plants. They make false plants out of metal and gems. To provide light they have massive serpents with self efulgent gems which give off red light. The demons live for hundreds of millions of years. They are tall handsome and extremely phisicaly strong. There skin looks like molten copper or bronze or sometimes white as clouds. There are several races of demons, Daityas who are the sons of Diti are the most powerful. Danavas are the sons of Danu who is another wife of Kasyapa and who gave birth do envyious sons. Vritra and Rahu were two Asuras who were massive fire breathing dragons, this however is not related to the many Nagas in this realm, Nagas are huge serpents who some times have many hoods. They breathe fire and have a direct connection with what the chinese call Dragons. They are all the children of Kadru, another wife of Kasyapa. The demons lost many of there citys and residences in a great war and as a result descided to move to the earth and take human bodys. The Devas cannot directly come to the earth and kill people so they took human bodys as well and had a great war, this was the Mahabharata war. Some people say that to this very day many of the demons are still secretly trying to rule the world, through secret oganisations. I don’t know.
Whenever Demons go to war, they are usualy joined by Racksasas. Racksasas are horable creatures which have a cultural connection with ogres or giants. They are massive ugly demonic spirits who have black magic powers and are man-eaters. They live on a planet called Bhutaloka. Racksasas generaly are about twice as tall as a man with black flesh and rust colored fur. They have huge cousins called Yaksas who look simular but have redish fleash and small horns and long black hair. There other cousins are called Kimpurusas and Kinnaras. However they are good. Kimpuruasas are what we call Sphinxs and Kinnaras are what we call Centaurs. Kinnaras are known for there musical ability and generaly live in the upper planetary system allong with Kimpurusas.
Bellow the realm of demons is the kingdom of Yama or the king of the dead. When someone dies who has lead a especialy bad life, they are dragged before Yama to be judged. There are various planets were punishments are dealt out. When the sentence is complete the soul is then allowed to return to the earth. “Hell” is not eternal but like a prison where a soul pays there debt to society and then gets to return, with some bad karma as probation.
The universe is a divine balance which has been created by God. With good evil and everything imbetween. It is all a giant school so that we mature and grow and can reach our own greatest potential.