Class 110, vivekacūḍāmaṇi

In this philosophically precise and experientially illuminating class on verses 111–112, Acharya Tadany unfolded the three guṇas of māyā (trigunātmikā) — the essential faculties that make the causal body (kāraṇa śarīram) the source of all manifestation: 

(1) Sattva (jñāna śakti — knowing faculty, clarity, illumination); 

(2) Rajas (kriyā śakti — activity/action faculty, movement, desire, projection); 

and (3) Tamas (dravya śakti — inertia faculty, neither knowledge nor action, absence of both). 

Since māyā itself is imperceptible (avyaktam), its guṇas are inferred from its products — the manifest universe (prapañca) — because whatever exists in the effect must exist in the cause (like genetic traits in children from parents). 

At the māyā level, guṇas exist in perfect equilibrium (no distinction); in manifestation, they exist in varying proportions, creating diversity: stones (tamas-dominant), plants (more rajas/sattva), animals (refined jñāna/kriyā śakti), humans (maximum jñāna/kriyā śakti, with sattva varying widely among individuals). 

Acharya Tadany explained Śaṅkarācārya’s deliberate re-ordering of the teaching (Rajas → Tamas → Sattva) because Rajas and Tamas are more familiar in daily experience. 

Acharya Tadany then, started with Rajas’s vikṣepa śakti (projecting power): 

At cosmic level (samaṣṭi), Rajas disturbs equilibrium to initiate creation (Big Bang = subtle rajas disturbance); 

At individual level (vyaṣṭi), Rajas manifests as rāga (desire), pravṛtti (activity), restlessness, endless pursuit (“If you have 100,000, you want 1 million…”). 

Acharya Tadany clarified deity associations: Brahma (Rajas/creation), Vishnu (Sattva/maintenance), Shiva (Tamas/absence of creation/maintenance — necessary for sleep, rest, death, and ultimate dissolution). 

The class concluded that Vedānta uses flexible models to convey essence, not rigid definitions, and daily life shows guṇa transitions (deep sleep = tamas, waking = rajas rise, activity = rajas dominance) — in an era of rapid change (AI, markets), Vedānta keeps us centered in the unchanging (nirvikāra) amid the changing (savikāra).

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