Gurbani talks of traiguni maya or traiguni sansaar. Trai means three
and gun means attributes or qualities. The three gun referred to are
rajo gun, tamo gun and sato gun. These three qualities of the materialistic
world govern the lives of the vast majority of us who are misled by maya.
Guru Arjan Dev says that the Lord created the world that we see, His
sargun form, from His unseen nergun form –
nergun tay sargun drestaarang.
In His sargun form the Lord created the presence of
these gun of maya.
Bhenn bhenn traigun besthaaran(g). Nergun tay sargun drestaaran(g). P.250
Guru Amar Das says that foolish people blindly serve these three
gun by indulging in materialistic activities – moorakh andhay traigun sayveh. They are
traders of maya – maya kai beuhaari.
Moorakh andhay trai gun sayveh maya kai beuhaari. P.1246
In the
Anand Saheb Bani Guru Ji says that under the influence of the trai gun
the whole world is asleep, i.e. oblivious of the Godly path –
sansaar bharm suta.
One’s whole life which is described as a night –
rain – is spent in this maya moh sleep
– sutea rain vehaani. It is only with the guru’s kerpa that one wakes – jaagay –
from this sleep.
Tehi guni sansaar bharm suta sutea rain vehaani. Gur kerpa tay say jan
jaagay……… P.922
According to Guru Nanak Dev persons under the influence of the three
gun cannot get across the bhavjal – nahi paar utaara. Their efforts are in no way fruitful –
trehu gun antar khapeh khapaaveh.
Trehu gun antar khapeh khapaaveh nahi paar utaara hay. P.1029
Guru Ji says that the
trai gun are the cause of a person falling into vekaars –
trai gun sarb janjaal hai. As such love for naam cannot develop –
naam na dharay pyar.
Trai gun sarb janjaal hai naam na dharay pyar. P.1284
Guru Amar Das says that spiritual death –
aatmak maut – has a hold on those
whose lives are governed by traigun – kaalai ki ser kaara. They never think of the
Creator who is termed upaavanhaara. They face repeated births and deaths –
mar jammeh vaaro vaara.
Trai gun kaalai ki ser kaara. Naam na cayteh upaavanhaara. Mar jammeh fer
vaaro vaara. P.232
Traigun activity results in chasing after maya – traigun sabha dhaat hai. By
being obsessed with it one can neither resort to bhagti nor can one get to love the
Lord. Whatever one does is subject to haumai – haumai karm kmaahe. Hence there
can be no freedom from vekaars – mukat kaday na hova-i, and there is no possibility
of attaining high spiritual status – gat.
Guru Ji mentions it thus:
Traigun sabha dhaat hai na Har bhagt(i) na bhaae. Gat mukat kaday na hovai
haumai karm kmaahe. P.1258
According to Guru Ji it is the
traigun / tregun maya which makes the world go
astray – jen jagat bhulaea, and instills the fear of repeated births and deaths in its
victims – janm marn ka sehsa.
Ayh tregun maya jen jagat bhulaea janm marn ka sehsa. P.1257
Bhagat Kabir says that what is referred to as
rajo gun, tamo gun, sato gun is
all the Lord’s maya.
Raj gun, tam gun sat gun kahi-ai eh tayri sabh maya. P.1123
Rajo gun leads to passion, greed, lust, arrogance and restlessness. A
person under the influence of this attribute is fickle minded and is not steadfast in
what he does. There is a desire to do this and that and he often wastes his energies in
resorting to various activities. He endeavours to attain wealth, position and prestige,
spurred on by pride and ego i.e. haumai. This attribute is the root cause of lobh, moh,
ahan(g)kaar.
Tamo means darkness and this attribute suffocates spiritual life because of
ignorance. The principle of activity in rajo gun gives way to inertia in tamo gun. One
gets corrupted by the five kaamadaks and vigilance and alertness of mind forsake the
person. He tends to become avaracious, angry, jealous and egoistic.
Both rajo gun and tamo gun tend to go hand in hand. Where one is found
there is every possibility that the other too will be present and both tend to ruin one’s
spirituality and bring aatmak maut.
Sato gun is at a higher level than the previous two attributes. With this
attribute governing the life of a person, he enjoys peace of mind. He tends to have pity
and compassion on suffering creatures and people, and makes an effort to help them.
He is forgiving and feels happy resorting to activities spurred on by this quality.
Although at a higher level than rajo and tamo the person under the influence of sato
gun does experience haumai but the haumai here is of a more subtle type as happens
when a person doing something good such as doing kirtan or sayva in a temple is
spurred on more by the praise of people or by some monetary reward than by the
inherent love of the activity itself.
A person who reaches the stage of sato gun can be said to have advanced
spiritually from the earlier two stages but he is still a creature of maya. Guru Ram
Das says that the three prominent devtas – Brahma, Veshnu, and Shev, were still
subject to maya even though they had become demi Gods. They became victims of
haumai and hence suffered. They failed in their rememberance of the Lord Creator –
jen kee-ay teseh na cayteh bapray.
Understanding of the Lord can be derived only by
seeking the saran of the guru – Har gurmukh sojhi pa-ee. (Shev is also referred to as
Mahadeu).
Brahma, Besan, Mahadeu, trai gun rogi vec haumai kaar kma-ee. Jen kee-ay
teseh na cayteh bapray Har gurmukh sojhi pa-ee. P.735
Guru Nanak Dev describes the
trai gun thus: rajo gun as air – pavn, tamo gun
as fire – ag/agan, and sato gun as water – bemb. The whole world is subject to these
three gun, and Guru Ji says that the world consists of these three – agan bemb pavn ki
bani. Here bani means creation. Guru Ji goes on to say that in spite of their powerful
influence the trai gun are servants of naam – teen naam kay daasa, and they have no
power over those who resort to naam semran.
Agan bemb pavn ki bani teen naam kay daasa. P.1328
Guru Amar Das points out that he who can eliminate the influence of the
trai gun becomes nermal – trai gun maytay nermal hoi. His jeevatma becomes pure. His
mind stops wandering and he acquires the sehaj state. By resorting to naam semran he
succeeds in realizing the Lord who is described as saac Prabh.
Trai gun maytay nermal hoi. Sehjay saac melai Prabh soi. P.232
All our materialistic activities are carried out under the influence of these three
gun – trebedh, and according to Guru Nanak Dev these give rise to various hopes and
anxieties – aas andaysa hoe.
Trebedh karm kma-ee-eh aas andaysa hoe. P.18
Because of the powerful influence of the trai gun the mind’s desires never get
fulfilled. Only the man, in whose mind the Lord’s naam begins to dwell, can free
himself from the clutches of maya and its trai gun. This is attained when one seeks
the saran of the guru and becomes a true devotee. He then acquires a deep
understanding of the Lord and the jeevatma becomes one with the Lord, the Parm
Atma. This stage is known as turi aavastha or turia aavastha. On the other hand, as
Guru Ji says, those who love the trai gun experience repeated births and deaths –
janm marai trai gun hetkaar.
Janm marai trai gun hetkaar …… Turi aavastha satgur tay Har jaan. P.154
Guru Ji emphasises the fact that by seeking the
saran of the guru worldly hopes and desires – aasa mansa – can be eliminated thus enabling one to remain
above these and becoming neraas - without any aasa mansa. When one becomes a
gurmukh by moulding his life as per the teachings of the guru and by participating in
sant sabha / sat sang for ot / aasra and support one acquires turi aavastha.
Aasa mansa do-oo benaast trehu gun aas neraas bha-i. Turi aavastha
gurmukh pa-ee-ai sant sabha ki ot lahi. P.356
According to Guru Ji, when one attains the fourth stage of
turia avastha -
cauthay thaaveh leh paavai, the trai gun - rajas, taamas, sat - get merged with the
cautha pad - kaal smaavai.
In this fourth stage one experiences peace of mind. The mind becomes calm and cool -
shaant seetal. Guru Ji says that the heat from the trai
gun sun - soor, gets lost in the cool shaant conditions of the turia moon -
sasiar kai ghar soor smaavai.
Caudas cauthay thaaveh leh paavai. Raajas taamas sat kaal smaavai. Sasiar
kai ghar soor smaavai. P.840
Guru Amar Das says that the shackles of
trai gun maya – trebedh bandhan -
can be broken only with the help of the
gur sabad – tooteh gur sabdi, by considering
the sabad and moulding one’s life according to its teaching. Then only the Lord
blesses the devotee with freedom from the bonds of maya whereby he now
becomes mukat.
Trebedh bandhan tooteh gur sabdi gur sabdi mukat kraavnea. P127
Guru Ji goes on to say that
turia gun is acquired by participation in saadh
sangat – turia gun sat sangat pa-ee-ai. He who acquires this gun is then helped by the
Lord, who blesses him with His mehar di nadar to get across the world ocean – nadri
paar utari.
Turia gun sat sangat pa-ee-ai nadri paar utari. P.1260
Guru Arjan Dev points out that the three
gun keep on influencing everyone in the world – teen beapeh jagat kau. Rare is the person
who acquires the turia stage.
Guru Ji goes on to say that under the influence of the trai gun one acquires the fruits
of veshay vekaar thus resulting in sinking in the vekaars at times and becoming
neec, and sometimes rising above them and becoming uttam. In this way they suffer
heaven and hell – surag nark – which means experiencing sukh dukh. Their minds
wander a lot – bharmtau ghano, and fear of death – meec -always bothers them –
sada sanghaarai meec.
Teen beapeh jagat kau turia paavai koe. …Tretia trai gun bekhai fal kab
utttam kab neec. Nark surag bharmtau ghano sada sanghaarai meec. P.297
Guru Ji says that we should regard what the Lord does -
jo kech karai - as
something good - bhala kar maanau. By following this rule the mind attains sehaj.
Jo kech karai soi bhal maanau ta(n) man sehaj smaana. P.782
Man comes to this world as a trader –
vanjaara – for the purpose of trading
and accumulating the naam of the Lord. Guru Ji says that those who have loads of this
everlasting naam commodity - sac vakhar jen ladea – are the true traders described
as sacray pasaar. But such vanjaaras / pasaari are very few. The large majority are
the ones who are influenced by traigun maya, here referred to as tehatray bajaar – the
bajaar of the three hatt i.e. trai gun
Tehatray bajaar sauda karn vanjaarea. Sac vakhar jeni ladea say sacray
pasaar. P.1425
The turi avastha is also known as cautha pad, i.e. the fourth stage. Guru Ji in
Sukhmani bani says that he who resorts to naam semran as a result of the guru’s kerpa
attains the fourth stage with its sublime spiritual status –
cauthay pad meh gat paa-ay.
Kar kerpa jes aapnai naam laa-ay. Nanak cauthay pad meh so jan gat paa-ay.
P.284
Guru Nanak Dev says, “Oh Lord
raj tam sat all are the result - chaea - of your power – kal. Going through various lives
and deaths is something which you created. So too is the dukh of haumai which you have
given to beings. Oh Lord, when you shower your mehar on someone that person seeks the
saran of the guru and he reaches the fourth stage where he becomes mukat, free from
attachment to maya.”
