Saturday 12 September, 2009

The three Gunas

A rich man was traversing through a forest. Suddenly there appeared three robbers. They robbed the rich man of all his valuables. One robber said "now that we have got whatever he had with him, lets kill the man, so that there is no one left to report to the police". Saying so, he took out his sword to slay the rich man's head. The second robber stopped his colleague from killing him, just in time. He said, there is no use killing him. It would suffice to just to bind the man to a tree and leave him there.

The second robber's suggestion was taken and they tied the rich man to the tree and left the place. After some time the third robber among the three who looted, returned back to the forest and said to the rich man,, "I would release you now and lead you out of this forest". The rich man was relieved and very happy to hear this. The robber unbound the ropes and led the rich man out of the forest till they got to a highway.

The robber said to the rich man, "You walk this way of the highway and you will find your home". The rich man said, "You have helped me out of the forest, please come with me to my home". The robber said that he cant come with him, and saying so he left.

The first robber who wanted to kill the rich man was "Tamas". The second robber who wanted to bind him to the tree was "Rajas". The third man who relesed him from the forest and pointed the way to his home was "Sattva".

This allegory was narrated by Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa to his devotees in the 1880s to drive home the meaning of the three gunas manifest in one's personality.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That was an interesting story worth reading...