Rajas

{{Short description|Hindu philosophical concept}} {{About|a psychological, philosophical concept in Indian religions|other similar words|Raja (disambiguation)}} {{Italic title}} '''''Rajas''''' (Sanskrit: रजस्) is one of the three ''guṇas'' (tendencies, qualities, attributes), a philosophical and psychological concept developed by the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy.<ref name=larsonp10>{{cite book| author=Gerald James Larson| title=Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih2aGLp4d1gC |year=2001|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0503-3 |pages=10–18, 49, 163}}</ref><ref name=jamesgrajas>James G. Lochtefeld, Rajas, in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, Vol. 2, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|9780823931798}}, pages 546-547</ref> The other two qualities are ''sattva'' (goodness, balance), and ''tamas'' (lethargy, violence, disorder). ''Rajas'' is innate tendency or quality that drives motion, energy, and activity.<ref name=larsonp244>{{cite book| author=Gerald James Larson |author-link=Gerald James Larson | title=Classical Sāṃkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ih2aGLp4d1gC |year=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0503-3 |pages=244}}</ref><ref name=ianwhicher124>Ian Whicher (1998), ''The Integrity of the Yoga Darśana'', State University of New York Press, pages 86-87, 124-125, 163-167, 238-243</ref>

''Rajas'' is sometimes translated as passion, where it is used in the sense of activity, which according to the context can be either good or bad.<ref name=larsonp10/><ref name=jamesgrajas/> ''Rajas'' helps actualize the other two ''guṇa''.<ref>''Autobiography Of A Yogi'', Paramahansa Yogananda, Self Realization Fellowship, 1973, p. 22</ref><ref>Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad Gita Translation and Commentary, Arkana, 1990 p. 236</ref>

==Description== In Samkhya philosophy, a {{IAST|guṇa}} is one of three "tendencies, qualities": ''sattva'', ''rajas'' and ''tamas''. This category of qualities have been widely adopted by various schools of Hinduism for categorizing behavior and natural phenomena. The three qualities are:

* ''Sattva'' is the quality of balance, harmony, goodness, purity, universalizing, holistic, constructive, creative, building, positive attitude, luminous, serenity, being-ness, peaceful, virtuous.<ref name=ianwhicher124/><ref>Alter, Joseph S., ''Yoga in Modern India'', 2004 Princeton University Press, p 55</ref><ref name="Burley2007p101">{{cite book| author=Mikel Burley |author-link=Mikel Burley | title=Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3B9AgAAQBAJ|year= 2007| publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-15978-9|pages=101–105, 120–122, 167, 185}}</ref> * ''Rajas'' is the quality of passion, activity, neither good nor bad and sometimes either, self-centeredness, egoistic, individualizing, driven, moving, dynamic.<ref name=aw/><ref>Ian Whicher (1998), ''The Integrity of the Yoga Darśana'', State University of New York Press, pp. 63, 124–129, 138, 188–190.</ref> * ''Tamas'' is the quality of imbalance, disorder, chaos, anxiety, impure, destructive, delusion, negative, dull or inactive, apathy, inertia or lethargy, violent, vicious, ignorant.<ref>Ian Whicher (1998), ''The Integrity of the Yoga Darśana'', State University of New York Press, pp. 63, 110–112, 124–126, 163, 188.</ref>

In Indian philosophy, these qualities are not considered as present in either-or fashion. Rather, everyone and everything has all three, only in different proportions and in different contexts.<ref name=jamesg>James G. Lochtefeld, Sattva, in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A–M, Vol. 2, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|9780823931798}}, p. 265.</ref> The living being or substance is viewed as the net result of the joint effect of these three qualities.<ref name=aw/><ref name=jamesg/>

According to Samkhya school, no one and nothing is either purely ''sattvic'' or purely ''rajasic'' or purely ''tamasic''.<ref name=aw/> One's nature and behavior is a complex interplay of all of these, with each ''guna'' in varying degrees. In some, the conduct is ''rajasic'' with significant influence of ''sattvic guṇa'', in some it is ''rajasic'' with significant influence of ''tamasic guna'', and so on.<ref name=aw>Alban Widgery (1930), The principles of Hindu Ethics, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 234–237.</ref>

In the fourteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, ''rajas'' is described as being of a passionate nature, driving desire, attachment, and action. When rajas is dominant, it manifests as greed, restlessness, agitation, and constant engagement in actions, which obscure wisdom and keep one bound to the cycle of worldly pursuits.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Nicholas |url= |title=Bhagavad Gita: The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies Guide |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1-5030-5291-8 |publication-date=2017 |pages=211 |language=en}}</ref>

==Discussion== ''Rajas'' is that quality or attribute in a substance (prakriti) or individual which promotes or upholds the activity of the other aspects of nature (prakriti) such as one or more of the following: # action;famous # change, mutation; # passion, excitement; # birth, creation, generation. If a person or thing tends to be extremely active, excitable, or passionate, that person or thing could be said to have a preponderance of ''rajas''. It is contrasted with the quality of ''tamas'', which is the quality of inactivity, darkness, and laziness, and with ''sattva'', which is the quality of purity, clarity, calmness and creativity. ''Rajas'' is viewed as being more positive than ''tamas'', and less positive than ''sattva'', except, perhaps, for one who has "transcended the gunas" and achieved equanimity in all fields of relative life.<ref>Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad Gita Translation and Commentary, 1990 pp. 221–223</ref>

==See also== *Samkhyakarika (verses 12 to 14 discuss Sattva, Rajas and Tamas)

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

Category:Guṇa