Page 56 - THE FOURTH DIMENSION

O chief of the Bhāratas, when there is an increase in the mode of passion the symptoms of great attachment,
fruitive activity, intense endeavor, and uncontrollable desire and hankering develop. (Bg 14.12)

The mode of passion is characterized by an unending and insatiable cascade of material desires for success in
business and ever-increasing riches, sensuality and other forms of hedonistic self-indulgence, fame, mundane
knowledge, health and youthful appearance, and power for dominance in every field of action. All the above
are often accompanied by a strong attachment ro mundane family life. The strong desire to have an extended
family dynasty and innumerable assets such as expensive properties and possessions. If such passionate
material desires are frustrated, one becomes angry, resentful and bedeviled by greed.

The mode of ignorance is defined as follows:

aprakāśo ’pravṛttiś ca / pramādo moha eva ca
tamasy etāni jāyante / vivṛddhe kuru-nandana
When there is an increase in the mode of ignorance, O son of Kuru, darkness, inertia, madness and illusion are
manifested. (Bg 14.13)

Those influenced by the mode of ignorance lack the intelligence to make right decisions. They act under the
spell of illusion and misconceptions by which they work in ways that violate the principles of spirituality (mercy,
cleanliness, truthfulness and austerity). Bewildered by ignorance, they accept bogus religions as the truth and
reject bona fide religions as false; they consider a fallen person infected with passion and ignorance as a great
soul, and ignore a genuine saint; they pass most of their time in sleep, laziness, illusory pursuits and distress
with little or no happiness and remain blind to self-realization. Such ignorant persons are materialistic,
deceptive, expert at insulting others and maintain a negative, resentful attitude and habituated to fault-finding.
Their knowledge is limited to the body concerned with eating, sleeping, mating and defending without any faith
in the holy scriptures and saintly authorities.

A person in the mode of ignorance lacks inspiration to take up positive initiatives. Such a person is bereft of the
ability to make use of whatever knowledge he may have. This is due to not having the discipline to work by
adhering to regulative principles of daily spiritual lifestyle. He is prone to acting whimsically with no real purpose
other than selfish pursuits. Though one may have the capacity to work, he remains idle due to the tendency to
be lazy and slovenly. Time goes by and nothing of consequence gets done. These symptoms are typical of the
mode of ignorance.

The great Vaisnava guru, Yamunacarya, has composed a verse that states those influenced by the modes of
passion and ignorance cannot understand Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

My dear Lord, devotees like Vyāsadeva and Nārada know You to be the Personality of Godhead. By
understanding different Vedic literatures, one can come to know Your characteristics, Your form and Your
activities, and one can thus understand that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But those who are in
the modes of passion and ignorance, the demons, the nondevotees, cannot understand You. They are unable to
understand You. However expert such nondevotees may be in discussing Vedānta and the Upaniṣads and other
Vedic literatures, it is not possible for them to understand the Personality of Godhead. (Stotra-ratna 12 as quoted
in the purport of Bg 7.24)

One can develop the higher svabhava (sat svabhava) by associating with persons in the mode of goodness. Such
persons live a regulated life based on spiritual principles of mercy, cleanliness, truthfulness and austerity. The
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