Krishna points out that even though the unwavering divine Self resides within our physical form our mind, body and heart are still citizens of the prakritic world, and are therefore impacted by the gunas. Human faith, Krishna tells us, falls under three categories in relation to these forces of nature. There is the pure, clear and devoted faith, which is the faith influenced by sattva. Overly rajasic faith is overzealous and irrational while faith governed by excessive tamas is lazy, undedicated or seemingly non-existent. By having faith in the presence of the divine, we become one with our divinity. “Everyone’s faith conforms to this nature [of the three gunas], for such a person is his faith. Whatever his faith, that alone makes him.” (DB 17.3-4) Faith that is from the heart, authentic and true is sattvic faith and this faith moves us forward toward merging with the blissful nature of the Absolute.
Krishna points out a few more examples of where we are influenced by the gunas such as the intake of food, the way in which we offer a gift to another person as well as personal sacrifices. As we can see, the gunas can serve as access points that can gain us entry into the experience of satcitananda (truth, knowledge and bliss), if we understand their application in everyday life.
