The Gunas: Qualities of Life
Hello. The following is a brief overview/introduction to the gunas of Vedic Astrology. The concept of the gunas is much vaster and deeper than I will be going over in the following post. I encourage everyone who reads this to do external research on them in addition to this post. This post mainly functions as an introduction to the concept and in particular, ways it relates to Astrology.
The gunas, (meaning: qualities) are 3 major components of life according to various schools of Hindu philosophy. The gunas are said to be binding and are various ways consciousness can be colored or filtered. They appear notably in Vedic Astrology. The three gunas (Triguna) are present in all things and beings. What varies, however, is the degree to which they are present in each being. In Astrology, every planet and every sign is predominant in a certain guna, which indicates said planet/sign’s character and disposition. Likewise, this can be used to understand the distribution of the gunas in a person’s birth chart and what that means for them.
The three gunas are Sattvaguna (Sattva), Rajoguna (Rajas) and Tamoguna (Tamas).
-Sattvaguna is the purest guna. It indicates happiness, love, creativity, peace, unity, togetherness and the understanding that all things are one. Those with predominance in this guna are calm, harmonious, and carry emotional awareness, maturity and intelligence. Most people are not born dominant in Sattvaguna and it usually needs to be cultivated.
-Rajoguna is the guna of passion. It indicates excitement, mobility, desire, lust, anger, competition, ego, greed, extroversion, and worldliness. It is considered to be the cause of great activity in living beings. Unlike Sattvaguna, Rajoguna is extremely biased and lacks both peace and clarity.
-Finally is Tamoguna, the darkest guna. It indicates impurity, distraction, laziness, tiredness, dullness, negativity, hurtfulness, chaos, ignorance, destruction and corruption. It is the lowest of the three gunas.
All of the gunas can be binding and it is important to understand their value without becoming attached to any of them. They are all temporary. Rajoguna gets you up out of bed in the morning and Tamoguna puts you to sleep at night. Even Sattvaguna, which should be cultivated, is still something to avoid becoming attached to. Sacrificing everything for the sake of the purest happiness (Sattva) and sacrificing everything for the sake of material possessions (Rajas) both have sacrificing everything in common.
That being said, here are the gunas that the planets and signs in Astrology are dominant in.
THE PLANETS’ GUNAS
THE SUN
…It is dominant in Sattvaguna. The Sun conveys happiness, self confidence, personal power and mental clarity.
THE MOON
…It is dominant in Sattvaguna. The moon conveys happiness, love, empathy, creativity, imagination, peace of mind and mental clarity.
MERCURY
…It is dominant in Rajoguna. Mercury conveys enjoyment of fun, games, and other exciting, stimulating activities.
VENUS
…It is dominant in Rajoguna. Venus conveys passion, desire, lust, pride, vanity and worldliness. Similar to Mercury, Venus enjoys stimulating activities.
MARS
…It is dominant in Tamoguna. Mars conveys violence, cruelty, obstinance, ignorance, destruction, hatred, and extremely dark thoughts & beliefs.
JUPITER
…It is dominant in Sattvaguna. Jupiter conveys happiness, peace, clarity, knowledge, awareness, openness, love and easygoingness.
SATURN
…It is dominant in Tamoguna. Saturn conveys destruction, chaos, laziness, ignorance, apathy, cruelty, spite and lowly perspectives.
RAHU & KETU
…Both nodes are dominant in Tamoguna.
-Rahu is chaotic, foolish, hurtful, manipulative and devious. From drug to internet abuse, Rahu is all of the ways that we distract ourselves.
-Ketu is destructive, dangerous, thoughtless, & reductive. Although its goal is to purify, Ketu destroys itself and those around it to achieve this goal.
THE SIGNS’ GUNAS
ARIES
…It is dominant in Rajoguna. Aries is the most excited, passionate, and ego driven sign.
TAURUS
…It is dominant in Tamoguna. It is the most immoble sign and is extremely lazy.
GEMINI
…It is dominant in Rajoguna. Gemini is excited, interested and always looking for more stimulation.
CANCER
…It is dominant in Sattvaguna. It is peaceful, loving, empathetic and clear-minded.
LEO
…It is dominant in Sattvaguna. It is positive, clear-minded and indicates happiness.
VIRGO
…It is dominant in Tamoguna. This sign is dark, lowly, and focused on literal, practical things.
LIBRA
…It is dominant in Rajoguna. Libra is passionate, social and cares about worldly things.
SCORPIO
…It is dominant in Tamoguna. It is dark, brooding and conveys ignorance and hatred.
SAGITTARIUS
…It is dominant in Sattvaguna. Sagittarius is optimistic, happy, and clear-minded.
CAPRICORN
…It is dominant in Tamoguna. It is lowly, practical, physical, and carries no excitement or ambition.
AQUARIUS
…It is dominant in Tamoguna. It conveys confusion, uncertainty, open-endedness and laziness.
PISCES
…It is dominant in Sattvaguna. It is full of love, creativity and is extremely harmonious.
