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RAJAS AND KARMAN
Nagin J. Shalı
If we do not take into account Puruşa, then in Sankhya-Yoga System there are three fundamental substances, viz. sattva, rajas and tamas. According to this system, citta is constituted of these three substances. But as sattva predominates in it, it is simply called sattva. Rajas and tamas are regarded as veils (avaraṇa) covering sattva. They obstruct the property of sattva, viz. jñāna. Tamas is considered to be the veil obscuring samyag drşți or vidya or amoha of sattva (i.c. citta.) But it is noteworthy that when the Yoga writers speak of veils covering sattva, they mostly refer to two viz. klesa-karma or kleja-rajas. 2 Again, Vyasa in his Yogabhāṣya specifically states that karman is the veil obscuring Viveka-jñana. He uses the term Viveka-jñānavaraṇiya karma.3 All this suggests that tamas can be reduced to rajas (karman), or that tamas is not fundamentally different from rajas (karman). The oftrecurring duals of klega-karma and klega-rajas point to the identity of the second members, i c. karma and rajas. Why did they use the term karman in the sense of rajas? The answer is quite simple. The special property of rajas substance is kriya i.e. karman. So, they occasionally used the term denoting the special property viz. karma for the substance of which it is the special property, that is, for the rajas substance. In other words, the terms karman and rajas are sometimes interchangeable. If karman is rajas, then it should be material substance. Th. Scherbatsky in his Buddhist Logic says: "In Sankhya karma is explained materialistically, as consisting in a special collocation of infraatomic particles or material forces making the action either good or bad". (Vol. I, p. 133, fn. 3) Like the Jaina thinkers, the Yoga thinkers also believe that the actions, if urged by klesas, cause the veil of rajas (karman) and hence in fact the kleśas should be held responsible for the rajas (karman) veiling sattva. This is very well brought out in the Yogasūtras
1 mūḍham tu tamaḥsamudrekāt....... Tattvavaišaradi 1.1, avarakeṇa tamasā..... Yogabhasya 4.31.
2 tataḥ klesakarmanivṛttiḥ. Yogasūtra 4.30. sarvaiḥ kleśakarmāvaraṇaiḥ vimuktasya.... Yogabhasya 4.31. vidhätaklesarajasah..... Ibid, 2.26
3 asya yoginaḥ kşiyate vivekajñānāvaraniyam karma..... Yogabhäṣya 2. 52.
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