() refers to the three fundamental tendencies or forces that constitute nature, or the matrix of material existence in Hindu philosophies. It can be translated as "quality, peculiarity, attribute, property".guna Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon, GermanyguNa Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Köln University, Germany
The concept is originally notable as a feature of Samkhya philosophy.Larson, Gerald James. Classical Samkhya: An Interpretation. p. 37. Referring to the opinions of Surendranath Dasgupta. Quote: "An older school of Samkhya can be seen in the Caraka Samhita and in the doctrines of Pancasikha in Mahabharata 12.219. This school accepted only twenty-four principles. It included purusa within the avyakta prakrti. It had no theory of the gunas, and the ultimate salvation state was a kind of unconscious annihilation." The guṇas are now a key concept in nearly all schools of Hindu philosophy.James G. Lochtefeld, "Guna", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A–M, Vol. 1, Rosen Publishing, , p. 265 There are three guṇas (triguṇa), according to this worldview, that have always been and continue to be present in all things and beings in the world. These three guṇas are called: (goodness, calmness, harmony), (passion, activity, movement), and (ignorance, inertia, laziness).Alban Widgery (1930), "The principles of Hindu Ethics", International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 234–237 All of these three guṇas are present in everyone and everything; it is the proportion that is different, according to Hindu worldview. The interplay of these guṇas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life.
In some contexts, it may mean "a subdivision, species, kind, quality", or an operational principle or tendency of something or someone.Theos Bernard (1999), Hindu Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 74–76 In human behavior studies, Guna means personality, innate nature, and psychological attributes of an individual.
Like many technical terms in other languages, guṇa can be difficult to encapsulate with a single English word. Its original and common meaning is a thread, implying the original materials that weave together to make up reality. The usual, but approximate translation in common usage is "a quality".Karl H. Potter (2011), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 2: Indian Metaphysics and Epistemology, Motilal Banarsidass, , p. 112
Terminology Guna appears in many ancient and medieval Indian texts. Depending on the context, it means: string or thread, rope, sinew, chord (music, vowel phonology and arts literature)W Raffé (1952), Rāgas and Rāginīs: A key to Hindu aesthetics, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 11(2): 105–117Benjamin Woodbridge Dwight, virtue, merit, excellence (dharma and soteriological literature)Gerald James Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya (2014), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies – Samkhya, A Dualist Tradition in Indian Philosophy, Volume 4, Princeton University Press, , pp. 65–66E Yamaguchi (1967), "A Consideration to Pratyaya-Sarga", Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies, 15, 16–22 quality, peculiarity, tendency, attribute, property, species (sastras, sutras, the Epics, food and analytical literature)
The root and origins Guṇa is both a root and a word in Sanskrit. Its different context-driven meanings are derived from either the root or the word. In verse VI.36 of Nirukta by Yāska, a 1st millennium BC text on Sanskrit grammar and language that preceded Panini, Guṇa is declared to be derived from another root Gaṇa,gaNana Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Germany which means "to count, enumerate". This meaning has led to its use in speciation, subdivision, classification of anything by peculiarity, attribute or property. This meaning has also led to its use with prefixes such as Dviguṇa (twofold), Triguṇa (threefold) and so on.
In other contexts, such as phonology, grammar and arts, "Guṇa-" takes the meaning of āmantraṇā (आमन्त्रणा, addressing, invitation) or abhyāsa (अभ्यास, habit, practice). In the Mahabharata Book 6 Chapter 2, the meaning of guṇa similarly comes in the sense of addressing each part (the root implying āmantraṇā), and thereby it means avayava (अवयव, member, subdivision, portion). In Sanskrit treatises on food and cooking, guṇa means quality, tendency and nature of ingredient. Ancient South Indian commentators, such as Lingayasurin, explain that the meaning of guṇa as "thread, string" comes from the root guṇa- in the sense of repetition (abhyāsa), while the Telugu commentator Mallinatha explains the root guṇa- is to be understood in Sisupalavadha as āmredana (आम्रेडन, reiteration, repetition). Larson and Bhattacharya suggest that the "thread" metaphor relates to that which connects and runs between what we objectively observe to the tattva (तत्त्व, elementary property, principle, invisible essence) of someone or something.tattva Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Koeln University, Germany
In the context of philosophy, morality and understanding nature, "Guna-" with more dental na takes the meaning of addressing quality, substance, tendency and property. In abstract discussion, it includes all hues of qualities – desirable, neutral or undesirable; but if unspecified, it is assumed with good faith to be good and divine in Indian philosophy. Thus, Guṇi from the root "Guṇa-" means someone or something with "divine qualities", as in Svetasvatara Upanishad hymn VI.2.Kapila Vatsyayan, Kalātattvakośa: Manifestation of nature : Sr̥ṣṭi vistāra, Volume 4, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 144–148
The gunas under various philosophies
Innate qualities and tendencies are key ancient concepts in Indian literature. Maitrayaniya Upanishad is one of the earliest texts making an explicit reference to Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and linking them to their Guna – as creator/activity, preserver/purity, destroyer/recycler respectively.G. M. Bailey (1979), Trifunctional Elements in the Mythology of the Hindu Trimūrti, Numen, Vol. 26, Fasc. 2, pp. 152–163 The idea of three types of guṇa, innate nature and forces that together transform and keep changing the world is, however, found in numerous earlier and later Indian texts.
Samkhya school of Hinduism In Samkhya philosophy, a is one of three "attributes, tendencies, qualities": sattva, rajas and tamas. This category of s has been widely adopted by various schools of Hinduism for categorizing behavior and natural phenomena. The three qualities are: Sattva is the of balance, harmony, goodness, purity, universal-ism, holism, construction, creativity, positivity, peacefulness, and virtue.Alter, Joseph S., Yoga in Modern India, 2004 Princeton University Press, p. 55 Rajas is the of passion, activity, neither good nor bad and sometimes either, self-centeredness, egoism, individualization, drivenness, movement, and dynamism.Feuerstein, Georg The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, Shambhala Publications, 1997 Tamas is the of imbalance, disorder, chaos, anxiety, impurity, destruction, delusion, negativity, dullness or inactivity, apathy, inertia or lethargy, violence, viciousness, and ignorance.Whicher, Ian The Integrity of the Yoga Darśana, 1998 SUNY Press, p. 110 Scholars of Samkhya have three main views on defining what gunas are. They are seen as either substances, qualities, or capacities.
In Indian philosophy, these qualities are not considered present in an either-or fashion. Rather, everyone and everything has all three, only in different proportions and in different contexts. The living being or substance is viewed as the net result of the joint effect of these three qualities.
According to Samkya school, no one and nothing is either purely Sattvik or purely Rajasik or purely Tamasik. One's nature and behavior constitute a complex interplay of all three guṇas, in varying degrees. In some, the conduct is Rajasik with significant influence of Sattvik guṇa; in some it is Rajasik with significant influence of Tamasik guṇa, and so on.
The balance of Gunas of everything and everyone can change and does. However, change in one quality faces inertia from other two qualities in Indian worldview. Change needs internal or external influence or reinforcement, as knowledge and force to transform. The force to change comes from the Rajas guṇa, the Sattva guṇa empowers one towards harmonious and constructive change, while Tamas guṇa checks or retards the process.
In Indian mythology, Vishnu is envisioned with more Sattva, Brahma with more Rajas, and Shiva seen with all three Gunas.
Nyaya school of Hinduism In Nyaya (Generality or common features) school of Hinduism, there is extensive debate on what Guna means, and whether quality is innate, subjective or describable. Early scholars of this school identified 17 qualities, which later scholars expanded to 24 . Different scholars of this school list the 24 differently; for example, Bhasarvajna disallows 6 of the 24 commonly accepted by the ancient scholars. The most commonly accepted list is: color, taste, smell, touch, number, contact, disjunction, farness, nearness, dimension, separateness, knowledge, pleasure, frustration, desire, hatred, effort, weight, fluidity, viscosity, dispositional tendency, merit, demerit, and sound.Karl H. Potter (2011), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 2: Indian Metaphysics and Epistemology, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 112–132
Nyaya school considers quality as non-repeatable, a conceptual theme not found in Western philosophy where "quality" is presumed to be repeatable. It is also not found in some parallel schools of Hinduism. Repeatability means that the white in one object is same as white in other object, and white means the same thing. Nyaya scholars hold that "whiteness" is a guṇa of "white", but that is different from "whiteness" of an object or living being. To them, white has many hues and the "whiteness" is subjective.
In Laksanavali, an ancient Indian text by Udayana, Guna is discussed with more nuance. For example, he writes, "quality of earth" is specific only if it meets three conditions: it occurs in earth, does not occur in anything that is not earthy, and be a distinctive quality that cannot be described as combination of other qualities.Karl H. Potter (2011), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 2: Indian Metaphysics and Epistemology, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 113–114
There are twenty four gunas mentioned in the joint school of Nyaya - Vaisheshika system in the Indian philosophy. For example, the Indian philosopher Praśastapāda had mentioned the term gurutva (Sanskrit: गुरुत्व) for the cause of the act of falling, in his commentary text Praśastapādabhāṣya on the Vaisheshika Sutra of Maharshi Kanada. According to him, gurutva is the quality of the paramanus of prithvi and ap (water). Gurutva is a Sanskrit word made from two terms guru and tva. The term guru has meaning of weight or heaviness. And the term tva is a Sanskrit affix to convert an adjective word into an abstract noun. When the affix term tva is added after the term guru, then the compound word gurutva takes the form of an abstract noun.