SCIENCE BEHIND THE GOD AND THE DEMON WITHIN
By: Sumit Chander
No one wants to do a wrong act, and yet wrongs are done. The reasoning of the faith divides the right and the wrong as acts inspired by the God and the Demon within us. But is there any scientific explanation to that?
My skill as a lawyer has taught me that everything has a written reasoning behind it and if you put your mind and effort towards it, you will surely find the answers written somewhere. So I tried searching the logical answer to why do we end up doing something that we regret later. What makes us do it and is there a way to avoid any such situation in future. I finally found an answer that sounds logical to me.
Modern Science
Let us begin with the very creation of the Earth and all beings in it as propounded by the Big Bang Theory. It is said that about 13.7 billion years ago there was a “Big Bang” in the universe which lead to the creation of a hot dense new universe. As this new universe cooled atoms were formed. These atoms became the basis of everything that exists in the universe then, now and in future.
It is scientifically proven that atoms are made up of three particles: protons, neutrons and electrons. The discovery of these particles came to notice of the scientists only in the nineteenth and the twentieth century.
In the year 1886 E. Goldstein discovered the existence of proton in the atom. In an experiment he passed electricity at high voltage through a gas at very low pressure taken in a discharge tube. He realised that streams of heavy particles were given out by the anode which is known as the positive electrode. So it became clear that Protons in an Atom consisted of a ‘positive charge’.
In the year 1897 J.J. Thomson discovered the existence of Electron. He experimented with cathode ray tubes and realized that atoms also contain negatively charged particles or electrons. So it became clear that Electrons in an Atom consisted of a ‘negative charge’.
In the year 1932 James Chadwick discovered the existence of Neutron. His experiments reveled that there is also a third subatomic particle in an atom which has no charge. He realized that this neutral particle called neutron is found in the nucleus of an atom. So it became clear that the Neutrons in an Atom consisted of no charge and was ‘neutral’.
So clearly each atom of our body consists of these three subatomic particles namely protons (Positive Particle), neutrons (Neutral Particle) and electrons (Negative Particle) and therefore our behaviour is constantly influenced by the dominance of each Particle within at any given time.
Bhagavad Gita
My further research led me to a similar reference in the Bhagavad Gita which is known to have been written about 5000 years ago which illustrates how all our actions can be categorized into three peculiarities of a person or their ‘Guna’ (गुण): Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic. Let me first reproduce Chapter 18, verses 23-25 of the Bhagavad Gita:
नियतं सङ्गरहितमरागद्वेषतः कृतम् । अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत्तत्सात्त्विकमुच्यते ॥२३॥
यत्तु कामेप्सुना कर्म साहंकारेण वा पुनः । क्रियते बहुलायासं तद्राजसमुदाहृतम् ॥२४॥
अनुबन्धं क्षयं हिंसामनपेक्ष्य च पौरुषम् । मोहादारभ्यते कर्म यत्तत्तामसमुच्यते ॥२५॥
Samakhya Philosophy of Hinduism
The concept is originally notable as a feature of the Samakhya Philosophy which is one of the school of thoughts of the Hindu Philosophy. As per this philosophy, the three Gunas describe the personality, innate nature and psychological attributes of an individual:
Rajas: passion, activity, movement
Sattva: goodness, calmness, harmonious
Tamas: ignorance, inertia, laziness
These Gunas are like a thread that weave together to make up the reality. All of these three Gunas are present in everyone and everything, it is the proportion that is different. The interplay of these gunas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life.
Ayurveda
Guna is also a concept in Ayurvedic medicine, as a system to assess conditions and diets. For this reason Triguna and Tridosha are considered to be related in the traditions of Ayurveda.
When studying the gunas of the mind, Acharya Sushruta, one of the great teachers of Ayurveda attributes a predominance of the three Gunas in the Five Elements of Nature or the Pancha Mahabhuta:
Vedic Hinduism
Because it is believed that these Gunas run through the very fabric of the Universe, our ancient Hindu Scriptures assigned one deity to each of these Gunas. The Gods who symbolize these gunas are:
Brahma the creative force presides over the Rajo Guna. Rajas is for fiery transmutation, passion, and attachment, for this it is considered Red.
Vishnu the sustaining force presides over Sattva Guna. Sattva is pure intelligence with no polarity, it is symbolized by the color white.
Mahesh (Shiva) the destroyer presides over the Tamo Guna. Tamas for darkness, rest, sleep, inertia, and ignorance (literally being in the dark, not knowing) is the color, Black.
Navratri and the three Gunas
It is said that our Gunas can be refined through the Divine consciousness. The Devi is Trigunatmika is the owner and master of the three Gunas. She is the storehouse of good qualities.
During Navratri, the first three days are attributed to Tamas and the Devi is honored in the form of Durga. Worshipping Devi Durga during the first three days, brings a balance to the Tamasic tendencies.
The next three days of Navratri are attributed to Rajas and the Devi is honored in the form of Lakshmi. Worshipping Devi Lakshmi brings balance to the Rajasic tendencies.
The last three days of Navratri are attributed to Sattva where the Devi is honored in the form of Saraswati. Worshipping Devi Saraswati enhances the Sattva in us.
During Navratri, our consciousness sails through Tamas, Rajas and blossoms in the Sattva Guna on the last three days. Gaining victory over the three Gunas (through worship and spiritual practices) and being centered is the purpose behind the celebration of Navratri.
Conclusion
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna about the three qualities: sattva, rajas and tamas. Sometimes it happens that sattva is the dominant quality in a person. In such a case, rajas and tamas are suppressed. The same can happen in the case of the other two qualities. And so, if rajas dominates, then sattva and tamas remain subdued. If tamas dominates, then sattva and rajas are subdued.
All three qualities are present in prakrti. All living beings or ‘jivatma’ experiences sorrow, joy etc, because of its association with prakrti. Whether a person has sattva as the dominant quality, or one of the other two as the dominant quality depends on his karma, and also the food he consumes. We can come to a conclusion about what guna is foremost in a person by observing his behaviour.
Rajas / Proton (Positive Particle) / Bhrama: A person in whom rajas dominates, exhibits certain characteristics. He is unwilling to spend his money. He will not give even to a deserving man, even though he has the means to give. He indulges in aimless activities. He does things with a view to reaping rewards in future in this life and in the next life too. He is restless. Such person lives his life in pursuit of selfish and harmful goals.
Sattva / Neutron (Neutral Particle) / Vishnu: When a person’s jnanendriyas reflect pure, unconfused knowledge, then we can conclude that in the case of that person, sattva predominates. Such person lives his life in pursuit of pure expansive intelligence.
Tamas / Electrons (Negative Particle) / Mahesh: As for the person with tamas predominating, he lacks knowledge. Excess sleep being a characteristic of a person with tamas, how can he be expected to devote time to learning? He is lazy, and lacks concentration. He cannot distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong. Such person lives his life in seclusion and disconnects from the world.
Sattva (intelligence) is inseparable from Tamas and Rajas, even when manifesting an undesirable action, speech, or thought. Think of it, we need intelligence to perform even bad actions.
The constant struggle of life is that we keep shifting the balance from dominance of one Guna to another. That explains why we all indulge in activities of Good and Bad, the God and the Demon. The constant shift in the dominance of the three Guna is what makes us who we are. What a person will experience in his next birth is determined by which quality or Guna is foremost in him at the time of his death.
Our endeavour in life should be to achieve the perfect balance between the three Guna and the person who achieves it is the person who is said to have attained Moksha in this lifetime. This balance can be achieved through meditation.
My skill as a lawyer has taught me that everything has a written reasoning behind it and if you put your mind and effort towards it, you will surely find the answers written somewhere. So I tried searching the logical answer to why do we end up doing something that we regret later. What makes us do it and is there a way to avoid any such situation in future. I finally found an answer that sounds logical to me.
Modern Science
Let us begin with the very creation of the Earth and all beings in it as propounded by the Big Bang Theory. It is said that about 13.7 billion years ago there was a “Big Bang” in the universe which lead to the creation of a hot dense new universe. As this new universe cooled atoms were formed. These atoms became the basis of everything that exists in the universe then, now and in future.
It is scientifically proven that atoms are made up of three particles: protons, neutrons and electrons. The discovery of these particles came to notice of the scientists only in the nineteenth and the twentieth century.
In the year 1886 E. Goldstein discovered the existence of proton in the atom. In an experiment he passed electricity at high voltage through a gas at very low pressure taken in a discharge tube. He realised that streams of heavy particles were given out by the anode which is known as the positive electrode. So it became clear that Protons in an Atom consisted of a ‘positive charge’.
In the year 1897 J.J. Thomson discovered the existence of Electron. He experimented with cathode ray tubes and realized that atoms also contain negatively charged particles or electrons. So it became clear that Electrons in an Atom consisted of a ‘negative charge’.
In the year 1932 James Chadwick discovered the existence of Neutron. His experiments reveled that there is also a third subatomic particle in an atom which has no charge. He realized that this neutral particle called neutron is found in the nucleus of an atom. So it became clear that the Neutrons in an Atom consisted of no charge and was ‘neutral’.
So clearly each atom of our body consists of these three subatomic particles namely protons (Positive Particle), neutrons (Neutral Particle) and electrons (Negative Particle) and therefore our behaviour is constantly influenced by the dominance of each Particle within at any given time.
Bhagavad Gita
My further research led me to a similar reference in the Bhagavad Gita which is known to have been written about 5000 years ago which illustrates how all our actions can be categorized into three peculiarities of a person or their ‘Guna’ (गुण): Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic. Let me first reproduce Chapter 18, verses 23-25 of the Bhagavad Gita:
नियतं सङ्गरहितमरागद्वेषतः कृतम् । अफलप्रेप्सुना कर्म यत्तत्सात्त्विकमुच्यते ॥२३॥
यत्तु कामेप्सुना कर्म साहंकारेण वा पुनः । क्रियते बहुलायासं तद्राजसमुदाहृतम् ॥२४॥
अनुबन्धं क्षयं हिंसामनपेक्ष्य च पौरुषम् । मोहादारभ्यते कर्म यत्तत्तामसमुच्यते ॥२५॥
- Action that is virtuous, thought through, free from attachment, and without craving for results is considered Sattvic;
- Action that is driven purely by craving for pleasure, selfishness and much effort is Rajasic;
- Action that is undertaken because of delusion, disregarding consequences, without considering loss or injury to others or self, is called Tamasic.
Samakhya Philosophy of Hinduism
The concept is originally notable as a feature of the Samakhya Philosophy which is one of the school of thoughts of the Hindu Philosophy. As per this philosophy, the three Gunas describe the personality, innate nature and psychological attributes of an individual:
Rajas: passion, activity, movement
Sattva: goodness, calmness, harmonious
Tamas: ignorance, inertia, laziness
These Gunas are like a thread that weave together to make up the reality. All of these three Gunas are present in everyone and everything, it is the proportion that is different. The interplay of these gunas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life.
Ayurveda
Guna is also a concept in Ayurvedic medicine, as a system to assess conditions and diets. For this reason Triguna and Tridosha are considered to be related in the traditions of Ayurveda.
When studying the gunas of the mind, Acharya Sushruta, one of the great teachers of Ayurveda attributes a predominance of the three Gunas in the Five Elements of Nature or the Pancha Mahabhuta:
- Space with Sattva
- Air with Rajas
- Fire with Sattva–Rajas
- Water with Sattva–Tamas
- Earth with Tamas
Vedic Hinduism
Because it is believed that these Gunas run through the very fabric of the Universe, our ancient Hindu Scriptures assigned one deity to each of these Gunas. The Gods who symbolize these gunas are:
Brahma the creative force presides over the Rajo Guna. Rajas is for fiery transmutation, passion, and attachment, for this it is considered Red.
Vishnu the sustaining force presides over Sattva Guna. Sattva is pure intelligence with no polarity, it is symbolized by the color white.
Mahesh (Shiva) the destroyer presides over the Tamo Guna. Tamas for darkness, rest, sleep, inertia, and ignorance (literally being in the dark, not knowing) is the color, Black.
Navratri and the three Gunas
It is said that our Gunas can be refined through the Divine consciousness. The Devi is Trigunatmika is the owner and master of the three Gunas. She is the storehouse of good qualities.
During Navratri, the first three days are attributed to Tamas and the Devi is honored in the form of Durga. Worshipping Devi Durga during the first three days, brings a balance to the Tamasic tendencies.
The next three days of Navratri are attributed to Rajas and the Devi is honored in the form of Lakshmi. Worshipping Devi Lakshmi brings balance to the Rajasic tendencies.
The last three days of Navratri are attributed to Sattva where the Devi is honored in the form of Saraswati. Worshipping Devi Saraswati enhances the Sattva in us.
During Navratri, our consciousness sails through Tamas, Rajas and blossoms in the Sattva Guna on the last three days. Gaining victory over the three Gunas (through worship and spiritual practices) and being centered is the purpose behind the celebration of Navratri.
Conclusion
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna about the three qualities: sattva, rajas and tamas. Sometimes it happens that sattva is the dominant quality in a person. In such a case, rajas and tamas are suppressed. The same can happen in the case of the other two qualities. And so, if rajas dominates, then sattva and tamas remain subdued. If tamas dominates, then sattva and rajas are subdued.
All three qualities are present in prakrti. All living beings or ‘jivatma’ experiences sorrow, joy etc, because of its association with prakrti. Whether a person has sattva as the dominant quality, or one of the other two as the dominant quality depends on his karma, and also the food he consumes. We can come to a conclusion about what guna is foremost in a person by observing his behaviour.
Rajas / Proton (Positive Particle) / Bhrama: A person in whom rajas dominates, exhibits certain characteristics. He is unwilling to spend his money. He will not give even to a deserving man, even though he has the means to give. He indulges in aimless activities. He does things with a view to reaping rewards in future in this life and in the next life too. He is restless. Such person lives his life in pursuit of selfish and harmful goals.
Sattva / Neutron (Neutral Particle) / Vishnu: When a person’s jnanendriyas reflect pure, unconfused knowledge, then we can conclude that in the case of that person, sattva predominates. Such person lives his life in pursuit of pure expansive intelligence.
Tamas / Electrons (Negative Particle) / Mahesh: As for the person with tamas predominating, he lacks knowledge. Excess sleep being a characteristic of a person with tamas, how can he be expected to devote time to learning? He is lazy, and lacks concentration. He cannot distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong. Such person lives his life in seclusion and disconnects from the world.
Sattva (intelligence) is inseparable from Tamas and Rajas, even when manifesting an undesirable action, speech, or thought. Think of it, we need intelligence to perform even bad actions.
The constant struggle of life is that we keep shifting the balance from dominance of one Guna to another. That explains why we all indulge in activities of Good and Bad, the God and the Demon. The constant shift in the dominance of the three Guna is what makes us who we are. What a person will experience in his next birth is determined by which quality or Guna is foremost in him at the time of his death.
Our endeavour in life should be to achieve the perfect balance between the three Guna and the person who achieves it is the person who is said to have attained Moksha in this lifetime. This balance can be achieved through meditation.