APPENDIX

D
MODES OF MATERIAL NATURE
A TABULATED SUMMARY

VERSE ITEM MODE OF GOODNESS MODE OF PASSION MODE OF IGNORANCE

14.6 Binding Force Sense of: • Attachment to fruitive • Madness
to • Happiness activities • Indolence (Laziness)
14.8 • Satisfaction • Binds by the ropes of • Sleep
• Knowledge desire and attachment
• Superiority

14.11 Symptoms • Illuminates the gates of • Intense, unlimited desires • Delusion/ Illusion
to the body with and longings • Darkness
14.13 knowledge. • Great attachment • Madness
• Frees one from sinful • Fruitive activities • Inertia
reactions

14.14 Destination at • Attains the pure, higher • Attains earthly planets • Birth in lower species
to death planets of the great
14.15 sages

14.16 Results of • Pure • Misery • Foolishness

to action • Knowledge (sees things • Greed • Madness
14.18 as they are) • Earthly planets • Illusion
• Elevation to higher • Life in hellish worlds
planets like Brahmaloka
or Janaloka

17.4 Worship • Demigods • Demons • Ghosts and Spirits

17.8 Food Type of foods: Type of foods: Type of foods:
to • Juicy, fatty, wholesome • Too bitter, Too sour, salty, • Prepared more than three
17.10 and pleasing to the heart hot pungent, dry and hours before being eaten
Effect of such foods: burning • Food that is tasteless,
• Increases the duration of decomposed and putrid
life Effect of such foods: • Food consisting of remnants
• Purifies one’s existence • Distress and untouchable things
• Gives strength, health, • Misery Effect of such foods:
happiness and • Disease • Infection
satisfaction • Disease
17.11 Sacrifice • According to directions • Performs for some material • Without regard for the
to of scripture benefit directions of scripture
17.13 • As a matter of duty • For the sake of pride • Without distribution of
• Without desire of prasadam (spiritual food)
reward • Without chanting of Vedic
hymns
• Without remuneration to the
priests
• Without faith
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17.17 Austerity • Performed with • Performed out of pride • Performed out of foolishness
to transcendental faith • For the sake of gaining • With self-torture
17.19 • Without expecting respect • To destroy or injure others
material benefits • It is neither permanent nor
• Only for the sake of the stable
Supreme
17.20 Charity • Given out of duty • With expectation of some • Performed at an impure place
to • Without expectation of return • At an impure time
17.22 return • With the desire for fruitive • To unworthy persons
• At the proper time and results • Without proper attention and
place • In a grudging mood respect
• To a worthy person
18.7 Renunciation • Performing prescribed • Renounces prescribed • Renounces prescribed duties
to duty only because it duties as troublesome or because of illusion
18.9 ought to be done out of fear of bodily
• Renounces all material discomfort
association • Does not lead to elevation
• Renounces all of renunciation
attachment to the fruit
18.20 Knowledge • Knowledge by which one • Knowledge by which one • Knowledge by which one is
to undivided spiritual sees that in every different attached to one kind of work as
18.22 nature is seen in all living body there is a different all in all
entities, though they are type of living entity • Without knowledge of the
divided into innumerable truth
forms • Which is very meager

18.23 Action • Regulated by sastras • With great effort by one • Performed in illusion
to • Performed without seeking to gratify his • In disregard of scriptural
18.25 attachment desires injunctions
• Without love or hatred • Enacted from a sense of • Without concern for future
• Without desire for false ego bondage or for violence or
fruitive results distress caused to others
18.26 Performer of • Performs his duty • Attached to work and fruits • Work against the injunctions of
to action (worker) without association with of work the scripture
18.28 the modes of material • Desiring to enjoy those • Materialistic
nature fruits • Obstinate
• Without false ego • Greedy • Cheating
• With great • Envious • Expert in insulting others
determination and • Impure • Lazy
enthusiasm • Moved by joy and sorrow • Always morose
• Without wavering in • Procrastinating
success or failure

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18.30 Understanding • One knows what ought
to to be done and what
18.32 ought not to be done
• What is to be feared and
what is not to be feared
• What is binding and
what is liberating
• Cannot distinguish • Considers religion to be
between religion and irreligion and irreligion to be
irreligion religion
• Between action that should • Under the spell of illusion and
be done and action that darkness
should not be done • Always striving in the wrong
direction

18.33 Determination • Unbreakable • One holds fast to fruitive • One cannot go beyond
to • Sustained with results in religion, dreaming
18.35 steadfastness by yoga economic development • Fearfulness
practice and sense gratification • Lamentation
• Controls the activities of • Moroseness
mind, life and senses • Illusion
18.37 Happiness • Just like poison in the • Derived from contact of • Blind to self realization
to beginning and nectar at the senses with their • Delusion from beginning to
18.39 the end objects end
• Awakes one to self-- • Appears as nectar at first • Arises from sleep, laziness and
realization but poison at the end illusion

APPENDIX D 3