--svatantramasvantantraM cha dvividhaM tatvaMishyate--
--svatantro bhagavAn vishnuH--
Sri Madhvacharya, in his tatvasaMkhyAna
The three guNas - a seeming paradox
It is posited that each and every sentient entity can be classified into one of the three guNas (sattvic, rajasic and tamasic), and that each has a predetermined end towards which it will inevitably progress toward.
So, then, why the exhortations and the injunctions against doing wrong things? To explain, why do the sAstras earnestly advise us to do the right thing?
Why do some stotras (e.g., Sri VadirAja kavacha) assert that we will be saved from “andha-tamas” by praying to the powers-that-be? Implicit in this assertion is the inescapable conclusion that there is no predetermined end. In other words, a sattvic soul, whose supposedly predetermined end is “mOksha,” can indeed meet an unexpected “fate” of being cast into “andha-tamas.”
This is a paradox I have been unable to understand yet. But then, I know little. I am searching for the answer….I found it. Acc. to a reputed scholar in UM, the problematic word in Sri Vadiraja kavacha should be interpreted as “light” or “knowledge”, which resolves the contradiction.
This topic is not so simple as to be addressed in a few short paras. There is more, a lot more…
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