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A New Approach to Indian Philosophy and Personality – A Study

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 Research Paper Management Volume : 4 | Issue : 5 | May 2014 | ISSN - 2249-555X

A New Approach to Indian Philosophy and

Personality – A Study

Keywords Personality, Indian philosophy, Triguna Theory, Human Behaviour

Ms. Tejal V.Dhulla

Assistant Professor, Dr. V. N. Bedekar Institute of Management Studies, Thane, (Maharashtra)

ABSTRACT Bhagvad Gita is considered as a marvelous literature in the Indian context. Over the centuries, several authors
have explored various dimensions of Bhagvad Gita ranging from philosophy, spirituality, politics, economics,
sociology, culture, literature, language, poetry, and others. However, human behaviour does not seem to be a popular sub-
ject of analysis from the Bhagvad Gita. The author has explored Triguna theory which provides lessons for understanding
personality as a dimension of human behaviouran attempt has also been made to understand the dynamics of Gunas that is
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.The Gunas inherited by an individual are liable to change due to physical, psychological and social
influences and the behavior of an individual, both overt and covert is determined by the prakriti (Personality) operating at
that time. As prakriti governs the perception, cognition, motivation and values of an individual, it also influences well-being.
The author feel that a deep understanding in this area could go a long way in human development, which could help in
understanding the relation between personalityand behaviour in the Indian context.

Introduction: mind vary (sattva) called as stability; rajas called as activation

‘Psyche’ in different systems of Indian thought: and tamas called as inertia) help differentiate an individual’s
The well-known and revered Indian epic, The Mahabharata mind from the other minds
has also been studied for its contribution to the understand-
ing of human behaviour and dynamics based on which there Objective:
has been a tool developed (Singh, 1971), while The Bhaga- • To consolidate a personality theory taking support of
vad Gita which is universally acknowledged as a classical text Ayurveda literature from the psychological perspective
in understanding human personality and psychology by one and Triguna theory.
and all also has been the basis for a good number of tools • To find out whether and to what extend Indian Philoso-
to be developed to study personality (Das, 1991).The struc- phy regarding personality closely resembles western trait
ture, nature and evolution of human personality are elabo- psychology
rated in these sources with special reference to the concept
of Triguna. Psychological Theories linkage to Triguna Theory
1. Carl Rogers – Person centered approach:
The term “Trigunas” is composed of two words Tri + Guna. focused on self-concept theory. The ‘Self’ may beperceived
Sankara explains the word guna Samkhyana (Bhagavad Gita, and/or experienced either in abstract or personified form
XVIII, 19) as the system of the Kapila, the subject matter of by different person. Theindividual self (Jiva) depicted in the
which is the exposition of the three gunas viz. Sattva, Rajas bhagvadgita is closer to the real self in Rogers experimen-
and Tamas. In the Manu-smrti also which is a contemporary taltheory.
with the Mahabharata, there is a detailed description of Sat-
tva, Rajas and Tamas (XII. 24-52) and reference to the three 2. Abraham Maslow – Need for understanding self:
pramanas.Ayurveda has used Prakriti to denote personal- i.e. “self-actualization” for Sattvic and esteemneeds “for
ity (Dwivedi, 2002). Prakriti comes from two Sanskrit roots, Rajas. Tamas works only at fulfilling basic needs. He is not
“Pra” means the beginning, commencement and source of motivated to any higherlevels of motivation as indicated by
origin and “Kruthi” means to perform or to form. Therefore, significant negative correlations with higher order
it means ‘the initial creation’ or alternatively this interest-
ing word can also mean, “To come forth into creation.” It 3. Sigmund Freud: Id, Ego & Super Ego & Rogers Locus
represents how one initially comes into life form and further of Control:
deviations take place (Singh, 2001). The Prakriti remains un- “It is the Sattva Guna that isresponsible for preparing the
changed during the course of one’s lifetime and is genetically mind to produce positive thought waves. Sattva Guna tries
determined. to bring a balance between the Rajo and TamomanasikaDo-
sha (Rao, 2003).
The term personality is derived from the Greek word ‘per-
sona’, or ‘mask’, associated with the dramatic masks worn In words of Aurobindo (1980), “all men have in them in what-
by actors in ancient Greek comedies and tragedies. Ironically ever degree the rajasic impulseof desire and activity and the
today, personality testing is designed to uncover the true sattvic boon of light and happiness, some balance, some ad-
personality a job candidate or employee may be masking. justment ofmind to itself and its surroundings and objects,
Personality psychology is the scientific discipline that studies and all have their share of tamasic incapacity andignorance”.
the personality system. The discipline seeks to understand Individuals are born with certain personality patterns that
a person’s major psychological patterns and how those pat- gradually change as a result ofinteraction with the environ-
terns are expressed in an individual’s life. ment. Environmental factors can be broadly divided into
physical, social andpsychological.
The theoretical expositions on Triguna and their manifesta-
tions in human nature have attracted the attention of Indian Triguna Theory and Personality linkages:
psychologists. The concept has been examined theoretically A. Psychological Factors:
(Boss, 1966; Mishra, 2001; Rao, 1962, 1979) .It is model of According the principle of imitation, mind absorbs the quali-
personality and development of consciousness rooted in ties of thosewith whom one associates because mental quali-
concept of Triguna. It is the extent to which the qualities of ties are contagious. Thus people should mix withothers with

386 X INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH

 Research Paper Volume : 4 | Issue : 5 | May 2014 | ISSN - 2249-555X

a great deal of stability (Sattva). The personality of children Following hierarchical order, Sattva and Rajas shownegative
gets molded in line withthe personality of parents. The psy- correlation with lower order needs. Absence of lower needs
chic field, which develops when people interact, is deter- along with their prime goali.e. “self-actualization” for Sattvic
minedlargely by the personality of the people involved and and esteem needs “for Rajas. Tamas works only at fulfilling
only to a lesser extent by the quality of theirinteraction. basicneeds. He is not motivated to any higher levels of mo-
tivation as indicated by significant negativecorrelations with
B. Cognition: higher order needs.
The concept of Gunas is equally applicable to cognitive char-
acteristics (Das, 1955). Aperson with a Sattvic outlook on F. Learning:
life will have an abstract memory, realistic and appropriate- Irrespective of Guna, all individuals learn by contiguity. How-
perception and productive and abstract thinking. A person ever, high Rajsic mainlylearned by instrumental learning.
in whom the Rajas Guna predominateswill have a concrete High Sattvic people have the highest degree of awareness
memory, ego involve perceptions, scattered thinking and andcontrol and the P (postponement) factor of intelligence
imagination. Incontrast a Tamsic person would have loss-dis- associated with vicarious trial and error.They are most capa-
torted perception and confused thinking.It is generally held ble of cognitive learning single trial learning, or learning by
that Sattva at the level of the cognition is perfect knowledge, insight. On theother hand Tamsic learn by only contiguity.
Rajas is cloudedintellect and Tamas is ignorance (Das, 1955).
A Sattvic person has a fully developed awarenessleading to G. Intelligence:
very clear perception based on direct factual knowledge. On High Tamsic have least intelligence and creativity. Rajsic have
the other hand the personhigh on Tamas is temperamentally very good practicalintelligence and moderate creativity;
unstable, his cognitive functions are disturbed and hemisper- quickly solve social and practical problems. They are good
ceives frequently (Singh, 1971). inscience and technology. Highly Sattvic people have high
flexibility, highly creative and areintuitive. They have artis-
C. Parents: tic and philosophical creativity. In term of competitiveness,
Parents who reject children and parents who are oppressive Tamas havelow level of competitiveness and desire, Rajasic
induce Tamas in children. Parentswho are punitive and en- have moderate level of capacity and the personhas enough
courage competition promote activation (Rajas) and demo- confidence to compete and Sattvic have highest-level capac-
craticacceptance induces self-respect and stability (Sattva) ity and show self–sufficiency.
in children. A person’s personality getsshaped according to
the nature of interrelations with other people at home and H. Morality and Religion:
outside. Sattvic have strong, Rajsic have variable and Tamsic have
weak willpower. The main Tamas value is conformity to group
D. Triguna Prakriti (Personality) and Behavior: - norms and sensuous pleasures. Power andmoney are valued
An individual’s behavior, both at the overt aswell covert (men- in Rajas societies. Conformity is considered normal in Sattvic
tal processes) level is determined by the personality operat- societies,competitiveness is normal in Rajsic societies and
ing (manifestation ofthe three Gunas) at that point of time. selfless creativity is normal in Sattvic societies.
Behavior of Tamsic people is mainly influenced bytraditions
while, highly Rajsic are aggressive, adventurous and risk tak- Conclusion:
ing, as a result of whichthey take initiative and interact with The contribution of Indian psycho-philosophy in understand-
all kinds of persons for a various purposes. On the otherhand ing human psychological, processes (e.g., cognition, emo-
Sattvic have awareness of the effect of interactions with dif- tion motivation, etc.), has also been explored. The Triguna
ferent persons in differentsituations and their social control is perspective provides a very comprehensive and holistic per-
affected by tradition and current group norms. Highly Tam- spective, which would go a long way in developing a con-
sicare highly dependent on the group. They crave attention crete indigenous psychological theory for understanding
and approval by others. Sattvic tend tobe democratic stable human behavior. “It is the Sattva Guna that is responsible
and cooperative and behave naturally. Some of the applica- for preparing mind to produce positive thought waves. Sat-
tions are as havebeen discussed below in brief. tva Guna tries to bring a balance between the Rajasic and
Tamasic (Rao, 2003).By importing the knowledge systems
E. Motivation and Emotion: of  Ayurveda  and the other ancient Indian scriptures which
The highly Sattvic person shows no great fear. His main emo- delineate the working of human behavior and mind in detail,
tion isselfless love, self-sufficient and shows meta-motivation. psychology as a science would be enriched, and be able to
Daftuar and Sharma (1998) conducted astudy and the results provide answers to many questions which are puzzling west-
reveal that Sattva works at “self-actualization” level, Rajas ern scientists even today to a large extent.
as esteem whereas Tamas at only the “basic needs” level.

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