The Gunas and Human Behavior by Vasudev Das The three gunas refers to the three modes or qualities of the material world. And they are sattva or goodness, rajas or passion, and tamas or ignorance. Guna also means rope [1]. Every embodied soul is inherently imbued with these qualities in different permutations; and at any given time we are being acted upon by these gunas. These gunas are always vying for supremacy. By the influence of the gunas, even an apparently peaceful person sometimes acts passionately. Sattva or the material mode of goodness is characterized by illumination and free from sinful reactions [2]. Persons under the influence of sattva or goodness are attracted to piety and are conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge. Control of the sensory modalities including the mind, tolerance, discrimination, sticking to one's prescribed duty, truthfulness, mercy, careful study of the past and future, satisfaction in any condition, generosity, renunciation of sense gratification, faith in the spiritual master, being embarrassed at improper action, charity, simplicity, humbleness and satisfaction within oneself are qualities of the mode of goodness [3]. Learned persons dedicated to Vedic culture are elevated by the mode of goodness to higher and higher positions [4]. Lord Krishna in instructing Uddhava posits, "When consciousness becomes clear and the senses are detached from matter, one experiences fearlessness within the material body and detachment from the material mind. You should understand this situation to be the predominance of the mode of goodness, in which one has the opportunity to realize Me." [5] Rajas or the material mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings or hankering and as a result persons under the auspices of rajas are bound to material actions. Material desire, great endeavor, audacity, dissatisfaction even in gain, false pride, praying for material advancement, considering oneself different and better than others, sense gratification, rash eagerness to fight, a fondness for hearing oneself praised, the tendency to ridicule others, advertising one's own prowess and justifying one's actions by one's strength are qualities of the mode of passion. By the influence of the mode of passion one continues transmigrating through human bodies [6]. The mode of passion is discernible by its symptoms—the distortion of the intelligence because of too much activity, the inability of the perceiving senses to disentangle themselves from mundane objects, an unhealthy condition of the working physical organs, and the unsteady perplexity of the mind [7]. Tamas or the mode of darkness is born of ignorance, and it is the delusion of all embodied entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul [8]. Intolerant anger, stinginess, speaking without scriptural authority, violent hatred, living as a parasite, hypocrisy, chronic fatigue, quarrel, lamentation, delusion, unhappiness, depression, sleeping too much, false expectations, fear and laziness constitute the major qualities of the mode of ignorance. Hiranyakasyapu's anger against Lord Visnu persisted until his death. Lord Visnu in the form of Lord Varaha or Boar incarnation annihilated Hiranyakasyapu's brother – Hiranyaksha which gave much pain to Hiranyakasipu. Besides, his son – Prahlada was exceptionally devoted to Lord Visnu and the anger generated by this devotion was unbearable to Hiranyakasipu. Other people in the bodily concept of life maintain anger only because of false ego and the great influence of ignorance. Cases of religious conflicts which abound the planet earth are typical examples of the effect of the gunas on humans which have resulted to killings in the name of God. Typical example is the Muslims and Christians religious conflict in Nigeria in 2001 wherein properties worth staggering sums of money and lives were lost [9]. The definition of ignorance is given in the Vedic literature, vastu-yathatmya-jnanavarakam viparyaya-jnana- janakam-tamah: under the spell of ignorance, one cannot understand a thing as it is [10]. For example, everyone can see that death is inevitable; still people are seriously committed to ugrakarmic or horrible works or wicked acts in a superlative degree in a bid to accumulating money more and more without preparing themselves to meet death. They do not care to figure out the objective criterion of human existence, which is to attain Krishna prema or pure love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna [11]. This is the inherent nature of tamas or mode of