Summary:

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 27: Individual existence consists of puruṣa (consciousness) and prakṛti (the creative principle from which manifestations emerge). Your body-mind is modifications of prakṛti. Prakṛti is understood through the three-guṇa model – sattva (knowledge/clarity), rajas (activity/desire), tamas (inertia/dullness) – which are prakṛti's fundamental constituents and modes of operation. All actions, thoughts, emotions are effects of guṇas operating within prakṛti, while puruṣa remains the unchanging witness-consciousness. Guṇas govern life stages. Ahaṅkāra creates necessary individuality but superimposes doership on puruṣa. Additional opinions get dumped onto the personal doership. Solution is recognizing puruṣa as sākṣin (witness) while the body-mind is prakrti.

Revision:

Ishvara, which manifests itself as the intelligent order, which facilitates organisms living in harmony. 

Harmony can be seen in…

1. Mist and Bird: Amidst thick mist, a bird glides and lands precisely on a tree, trusting its internal guidance.
2. Squid and Rock: A squid perfectly camouflages to its surroundings – texture, light, even shadow – without losing itself. No environment causes it to self-destruct, because nature supports survival, not sabotage.
3. Trees and Wind: Each tree sways differently to the same wind, uniquely responding without resistance – trusting the invisible mover that it won't hurt the trees.
4. Waves and Ocean Rhythm: Waves crash on shore in a perfect count – none early, none late.

Applying to you: When you see that everything functions within this intelligent order – bird, squid, wave, tree – you realize your actions, too, are governed by same order, because your body-mind isn't outside it.

Karma-Yoga is a consistent practice to help align your actions and choices in harmony with the order, because the truth is, your body-mind is always acting in harmony – but due to our free will, likes-dislikes, or personal fancies — we override the software of harmony (dharma), which in turn produces inner dissatisfaction and conflict. This is when your body-mind is no longer aligned to it's nature.

If a squid were to stop camouflaging (ceases offering it's gift to the world) because it wants to do something else, you’d think something was wrong with it. Yet, most humans are like the squid – suppressing their nature because of what's easier, faster, what society told us to be and do.

Additionally…

Amidst Ishvara's harmoniously operated world, players are put on it, like in a video-game (metaphorical). Some players…

1. Pass levels faster then others, but learn little. So in next level, they struggle, as missed lessons in prior. So they have to go back because there's no cheating well thought through rules of the game. EG: Learn Neo-Vedanta > dismisses emotions/psychology > Still unhappy, critical, judgmental > Hate themselves > Have to go back to square 1.
2. They know the point is to pass, but it's not a competition. Pass as slowly or fast as you need to, as long as the process is enjoyable and learning never stops. The learning you'll need in the next level, not necessarily in current level.  Similarly, general knowledge (politics/psychology/facets of reality) goes a long way for overall life experience. 
3. Goes to darkest corners of level to indulge. Learn nothings, but ultimately realizes their path isn't productive.
4. Help others pass levels, but forget they too need to pass. 

NEXT VERSE: What keeps the player stuck in individuality is taking self as prakriti, missing out on purusha (witnessing consciousness)…

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 27:
Prakriti Acts. You are Purusha.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः ।
अहङ्कार-विमूढ-आत्मा कर्ता अहम् इति मन्यते ॥ ३-२७॥
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ ।
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍha-ātmā kartā aham iti manyate ॥ 3-27॥

Actions are performed in various ways impelled by the guṇas of prakṛti —the body, mind, and senses. Deluded by the I notion, one thinks, ‘I am the doer.’

“Actions are performed in various ways impelled by gunas of prakrti”

Your individual existence consists of two aspects: puruṣa (true self as consciousness), and prakṛti (creative principle from which all manifestations emerge).

Your body-mind are modifications (vikāras) born of prakrti. Thus prakṛti is the cause from which your body, mind, personality, prarabdha comes – and it depends on puruṣa (consciousness that illuminates all experience generated by prakriti body-mind instrument).

Gunas:

The term guṇa in this verse refers to 3 general types of modifications that prakrti undergoes to manifest as a multi-faceted creation.

Metaphorically, prakrti can be likened to water. Water’s combination of liquid-gas-solid state can create many types of structures.

Similarly, your body-mind complex is made of 3 gunas, but also is predominated by one guna more than others, depending on present moment decisions. For instance, a sattvic mind seeks different ends then predominantly rajasic mind. 

At level of creation: Sattva-guna is Intelligence. Raja-guna is energy that sculpts that Intelligence using Tama-guna (material).

At level of individual: Sattva-guna expresses as clarity, wisdom, harmony. Raja-guna as activity, desire, agitation. Tama-guna as inertia/stability, dullness, resistance.

Relationship between gunas and prakrti:

Prakriti is made of 3 gunas. The guna model help describe what prakriti is. 

All change belongs to Prakriti. Self-evident-I is Purusha. 

All decisions, movements, physical body, thoughts, emotions, compassion, etc – emerges out of the prakriti, and not you (purusha). You are the witnessing consciousness that’s always available as self-evident I, throughout every prakriti change.

There’s always one aspect common in all gunas (modifications) — awareness.

Gunas govern life stages…

The gunas also manifest as laws in which your life stages evolve.

In some stages, certain things are appropriate, such as entertaining sexual union, child rearing — but become inappropriate in another stage.

Example: In brahmacharya (studentship), you can say “I want to live a carefree life, learning” – but that has less priority in grhasta (householder). Then in vanaprastha (retirement), you may want to give younger generation a chance to shine, thus encourage them, rather then criticize them.

What prevents growth is overshadowing the harmonious order with binding likes-dislikes. Comfort zone keep you stuck, thus one continues to be…

“Deluded by the I notion, one thinks I-am-the-doer”

Everyone comes with an empirical “sense of feeling like one individual”.

This sense of individuality is created by a mechanism called ahamkara. So ahamkara is necessary for functioning.

If ahamkara was absent, you’d experience yourself everywhere – in which case body would die, because it would feel like it’s everywhere. Thus there would be no motivation to move.

Metaphorically, ahamkara is like a glass born in all-pervading-space. The moment the glass is born, it gives impression the space is confined to glass boundaries.

Similarly, when ahamkara is born (in fact it was never born, but always existed since beginningless time), it immediately produces impressions that you (all-pervading purusha) are confined, like the glass-space.

Opinions are further formed what it means to be an individual…

Now that all-pervading-Purusha is confined by the ahamkara – additional opinions are formed about the Self, such as opinions about its doership performance.

So what started out as Ishvara-srsti-generated-confinement, another layer of jiva-srsti-opinion is created, such as “I am religious, I am white/black, I am an engineer, I am pure”.

Then we join communities that echo our opinion of Self.

Everything becomes about me (confined purusha, which isn't confined). Everything must please me. Then I have to prove myself and get validation that my little existence matters.

Solution:

Solution isn’t to stop doing actions, because doing happens at level of prakrti. Solution is to come to see there is one unchanging presence that never leaves. When it no longer comes/goes, that’s moksha. 

In short: Gunas act, I observe.

NEXT VERSE: Knowing the truth of the gunas, the wise person enjoys equanimity knowing the body-mind is governed by prakrti.

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Course was based on Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya) home study course.

Recorded 17 Aug, 2025