The triad of guṇas

Tats_4

[Base sūtra:] The {{traiguṇya|triad of constituents}}.

Tats_4.c1

[Verse:] Sattva, rajas, and tamas—these are the {{guṇa|constituent}}s; "the state of the three guṇas" is the {{traiguṇya|triad}}. Serenity, lightness, attachment, [and] from [right] application affection, uprightness,

Tats_4.c2

[Verse:] contentment, forbearance—[these constitute] the form of sattva, which directly brings pleasure. Grief, rigidity, hatred, torment, weariness, conceit in enjoyment—

Tats_4.c3

[Verse:] these are the manifold forms of rajas, bringers of much pain. Tamas, by name, [consists of] concealment and the rest, loathsomeness, obscuration, and the like,

Tats_4.c4

[Verse:] marked by wretchedness, heaviness, sleep and so on, heedlessness, and sloth—of the nature of delusion, endless. Thus the triad of constituents is declared. One should know sattva as illuminating, rajas as activating,

Tats_4.c5

[Verse:] and tamas as destroying [i.e. obstructing]. [This] is termed the "triad of constituents."