Every society, generally, consists of people who are engaged in four types of activities - knowledge accumulation, power accumulation, wealth creation and service. They can be described as intellectuals, power seekers, businessmen and service providers. They could also be called scholars, leaders, traders and workers.
Indian philosophy, too, enumerates four types of work that an individual performs based on his nature of work and mode of thinking. Traditionally they are classified as Brahmin (Knowledge Worker), Kshatriya (Power Seeker), Vaishya (Wealth Accumulator) and Shudra (Service Provider). Over a period of time it degenerated into a rigid caste system. If we leave out the caste system, which is highly deplorable, the format can be used to evolve a relationship between an individual’s Guna composition and his nature of work. Chapter 4:13 of Bhagavad Gita says:
“Chaaturvarnyam mayaa srishtam gunakarmaavibhagshah”
Lord says, “The four-fold actions were created by Me according to the differentiation of Guna (quality) and action.”
Based on this relationship I have developed an Action-Quality grid to present the concept in more detail for better understanding (Figure 1). The Action-Quality Grid relates three Gunas (Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic) to the four types of work. As the table suggests if nature of activity is service, a Tamasic individual will be a routine worker, a Rajasic (Passionate) person will be a resourceful worker and will do his work with passion. A Sattvic (Balanced) person will render selfless service within her/his organization and to the society.
Nature of Action
Figure 1: Satish Modh’s Action-Quality Grid
If nature of activity is wealth creation/business, the Tamasic person will struggle to maintain his status quo. The Rajasic person will be passionate and will become an entrepreneur. Those who are Sattvic and are in business will have a Gandhian view of business as a trust. They will run their business with a view to contribute to the society and support charitable activities.
When the nature of action is power acquisition, a person with Tamasic Guna will be a typical government employee - as an average populace understands it. For a Rajasic person, full of passion, army, bureaucracy and politics is the natural place to be in. Those of the Sattvic mind will use their work for social activism to bring about social transformation and change.
In the field of knowledge, the Tamasic person becomes an armchair critic, a journalist or editor - advising and criticizing everyone. The Rajasic person would become a consultant and will use his knowledge for other’s benefit but at a price. The Sattvic person becomes a Guru or a teacher.
Dynamic Nature of the Grid
The nature of Guna is dynamic so is the nature of this Action-Quality grid. Knowledge of this grid would help every enthusiastic person who wants a life of better illumination and greater equanimity. Gunas express the qualities of our thoughts and feelings and lead us to good, bad, or indifferent actions. By identifying the nature of work we are doing and relating it to the Gunas we would be able to identify the imperfections and sorrows of our life.
The action-quality grid helps us in identifying the nature of work we are doing and with it the dominant Guna influencing us at that moment in our life. It is interesting to note that the job title may not truly reflect the nature of work we are doing at a given point of time. A person may overtly be a teacher by the title of his job. But, he may be actually behaving like a government employee, or a disinterested worker, or a social activist, or even an entrepreneur (running tuition classes).
This variation in her/his conduct is the play of Gunas, which reflects her/his true nature – her/his tendencies and temperaments. The gap between a job title and the true nature of work creates agitations and dilemma in one’s mind. If one truly understands the dominant nature of one’s actions s/he can change the occupation to minimize agitations and confusion in his/her mind.
It is important that no one belonging to a particular work group in the action-quality grid look down with contempt upon others. We must understand that each one acts on the basis of his/her past tendencies and serves the society as best as s/he can. What is needed is that each one of us should try to minimize the gap between our true self and actual self and work with a spirit of dedication, for our own evolution and sense of fulfillment.
The productivity potential that is dormant in any profession can be invoked by bridging this gap. This will be useful for our self-development and also to gain the highest good for the society. It would help in building a just society, which would give freedom to all its citizens and encourage them to achieve their full potential – physical, mental and spiritual.
Dynamic Interaction of Gunas
Whatever the perception we have about our own personality, when we act, we are influenced by the environment in which we act; the state of our health, our mental state, our relationship with people around us and the goal we have set out to achieve. All these factors influence the way we actually act in a dynamic condition. Therefore, it is important to find out our “Actual Self” in the given conditions.
Figure 2 presents the dynamic interaction of Gunas in us. There is always an overlapping of these Gunas which result into different personality characteristics. Here, in figure 2 a is Sattvo-Rajasic, b is Sattvo-Tamasic, c is Rajaso-Tamasic and d is a intermixing of Sattvic-Rajasic-Tamasic Gunas – giving rise to various personality dimensions.
Seven Types of Dynamic Personalities
These seven types of personalities can be explained as:
1. Pure Sattvic
2. Sattvo-Rajasic
3. Sattvo-Tamasic
4. Pure Rajasic
5. Rajaso-Tamasic
6. Pure Tamasic, and
7. Intermingle of Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic
Figure 3 presents these seven personalities with their unique characteristics.
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