The Bhagavad Gita · chapter 14 of 18 · 27 verses · हिंदी में पढ़ें
14. The Yoga of the Three Gunas
Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yoga (गुणत्रयविभागयोग)
gunas
Summary
Krishna describes the three guṇas — the three qualities that bind every being. Sattva is clarity, harmony, illumination; it binds through attachment to happiness and knowledge. Rajas is activity, passion, restlessness; it binds through attachment to action and reward. Tamas is dullness, inertia, confusion; it binds through ignorance and sleep. All three operate constantly in everyone; what changes is which one is dominant in a given moment. The liberated person transcends them.
Key teaching
Most of what people call "my personality" is actually a stable mix of these three. Knowing which one dominates your day gives you precise leverage: when tamas is heavy, move the body; when rajas is hot, slow down; when sattva is present, do the deepest work you have available.
Modern application — what to do today because of this
Audit your day at sunset using the three. What dominated this morning? This afternoon? Now? Over a month of doing this you will see your guna fingerprint. The point of seeing it is not to change personality; it is to ride the wave instead of being thrown by it.