Trigunas

Ayurveda provides a special language for understanding the primal forces of nature and shows us how to work with them at all levels. According to Ayurveda, Nature consists of three primal qualities, which are the main powers of Cosmic Intelligence that determine our spiritual growth. These are called Gunas in Sanskrit, meaning “what binds” All the qualities of the world have been identified as three basic Gunas or attributes – sattva( Transcendence) Rajas (Activity) and Tamas, (Inertia). The three Gunas are the most subtle qualities of Nature that underlie matter, life and mind. They are the energies through which not only the surface of mind, but our deeper consciousness functions. The three Gunas are among the prime themes of Ayurvedic thought. They form a deeper level than the three biological humors and help us understand our mental and spiritual nature and how it functions.

Primordial matter (Prakritih) as conceived by Samkhya Philosophy and progenitor of all the creation (Avyaktam) as conceived by Ayurveda are said to be composed of triad of Gunas namely ‘Sattvam’, Rajah and Tamah. While emphasising the cause and effect theory of evolution, Ayurveda states the effect is always in accordance to the cause and hence the whole evolution is composed of Trigunas( trigunatmaka). Ayurveda hence even recognizes the trigunatmaka nature of Mind having been an evolute of Ahank¡rah (ego factor)