How Vedanta Explains Human Behavior

The One-Line Answer

Vedanta explains human behavior as the result of the interaction of three forces: the three gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) that constitute the mind and body, the accumulated karmic impressions (samskaras) from past lives, and the fundamental ignorance (Avidya) that makes us identify with the body-mind instead of the true Self—with free will operating within these constraints.

In one line: You are not a sinner or a victim; you are a wave shaped by past karma, present choices, and the gunas—but never separate from the ocean.

Key points:

• The three gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) explain why people act differently in similar situations
• Karmic samskaras (past impressions) explain recurring patterns and habits
• Avidya (ignorance) explains why we seek happiness where it cannot be found
• We have free will within constraints; the present moment is always free
• The goal is not to change behavior but to see through the one who behaves

For a practical introduction to the Vedantic framework of human behavior, Dr. Surabhi Solanki’s Awakening Through Vedanta provides the foundational understanding. Her Find Inner Peace Now offers practical tools for transforming behavior at the root.

---

Part 1: The Role of the Three Gunas

What Are the Gunas?

The three gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) are the fundamental qualities of Prakriti (nature) that constitute the body, mind, and entire material world . The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 14, Verse 5) describes them:

“Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas — these gunas born of Prakriti bind the immortal soul to the body, O Arjuna.”

Guna	Quality	Effect on Mind	Effect on Behavior
Sattva	Harmony, purity, light	Clear, calm, peaceful, wise	Compassionate, truthful, selfless
Rajas	Activity, passion, energy	Agitated, restless, desiring	Ambitious, competitive, attached to results
Tamas	Inertia, darkness, ignorance	Dull, confused, sleepy	Lazy, careless, deluded

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 14, Verse 6-8) describes each guna:

Guna	Binding Quality	Leads To
Sattva	Attachment to knowledge and happiness	Purity, clarity, wisdom
Rajas	Attachment to action and its fruits	Passion, restlessness, desire
Tamas	Attachment to carelessness, laziness, sleep	Delusion, inertia, confusion

“Your neighbor is not ‘bad.’ Your neighbor is under the influence of different gunas. Understanding this ends judgment.”

How Gunas Explain Different Behaviors

Situation	Sattvic Person	Rajasic Person	Tamasic Person
Receiving criticism	Listens, learns, remains calm	Reacts with anger, defends, feels attacked	Ignores, withdraws, becomes depressed
Facing a problem	Seeks wise solution; remains steady	Works frantically, anxious, stressed	Gives up, procrastinates, avoids
Working	Works as duty, without attachment	Works for money, recognition, power	Works as little as possible
Eating	Eats fresh, moderate, with gratitude	Eats spicy, too much, too fast	Eats stale, heavy, mindlessly
Relationships	Loves unconditionally	Loves with expectation, possession	Loves with indifference, neglect

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 14, Verse 10) explains that the gunas are not fixed:

“Sometimes Sattva dominates, defeating Rajas and Tamas. Sometimes Rajas dominates. Sometimes Tamas dominates.”

A person is not purely Sattvic, Rajasic, or Tamasic. The gunas are constantly shifting like clouds in the sky.

“Your behavior this morning was Sattvic. Your behavior last night was Rajasic. This does not make you ‘good’ or ‘bad’—it makes you human. The gunas act; you witness.”

How to Change Behavior by Changing Gunas

To Increase Sattva	To Reduce Rajas	To Reduce Tamas
Eat fresh, light, vegetarian food	Reduce stimulants (coffee, sugar)	Get adequate sleep (not too much)
Meditate daily	Reduce competition and comparison	Exercise regularly
Associate with wise people (Satsanga)	Practice detachment from results	Avoid heavy, stale, processed foods
Practice truthfulness and compassion	Reduce multitasking	Wake early; avoid oversleeping
Spend time in nature	Practice patience	Seek inspiring company

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 14, Verse 19) declares:

“When one sees that the gunas are the only agents of all actions and knows the Supreme beyond the gunas, one attains My divine nature.”

“You cannot change your behavior by fighting yourself. You change it by changing the gunas. A Sattvic mind naturally acts with compassion.”

Part 2: Samskaras (Past Impressions)

What Are Samskaras?

Samskaras are the latent impressions, habits, and tendencies stored in the mind (Chitta) from past actions, including past lives . They are the seeds that sprout into current behavior.

Aspect	Description
Origin	Actions (karma) leave impressions
Storage	Stored in the unconscious (Chitta)
Effect	Create habits, tendencies, automatic reactions
Transmission	Carry over from past lives through the subtle body

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (4.8) explain that samskaras produce vasanas (tendencies) that manifest as similar actions in future births .

“You do not react to a situation—you react to a pattern. That pattern is samskara. It is the ghost of past actions living in the present.”

How Samskaras Explain Behavior

Behavior	Samskara Explanation
Phobias	Past-life trauma stored as samskara
Talents	Skills developed in past lives
Relationship patterns	Repeated karmic cycles from past interactions
Addictions	Strong samskaras from repeated indulgence
Instant like/dislike	Past associations stored in the unconscious

“You are not born a blank slate. You are born with a subtle body full of samskaras. This is why two children from the same family can be so different.”

The Cycle of Samskara

Stage	Process
1	Action (karma) creates an impression
2	Impression becomes a samskara
3	Samskara creates a tendency (vasana)
4	Tendency manifests as behavior
5	Behavior reinforces the samskara

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 62-63) describes the chain:

“When you dwell on sense objects, attachment arises. From attachment, desire. From desire, anger. From anger, delusion. From delusion, confusion of memory. From confusion of memory, loss of intellect.”

Each step reinforces the samskara.

“You are not stuck. You are in a loop. The good news: loops can be broken.”

How to Break Samskaras

Step	Practice	Purpose
1	Witness the behavior without judgment	Shine light on unconscious patterns
2	Do not act on the impulse	Break the action-reinforcement cycle
3	Create new samskaras through repetition	Form new, positive patterns
4	Burn samskaras through Self-knowledge	Destroy the root of all samskaras

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 4, Verse 37) declares:

“As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, so the fire of knowledge burns all karma.”

This includes all samskaras. Self-knowledge is the ultimate eraser.

For practical techniques to break samskaras, Dr. Surabhi Solanki’s Find Inner Peace Now offers simple, effective practices.

Part 3: Avidya (Ignorance) as the Root

What Is Avidya?

Avidya is not a lack of information; it is the fundamental misapprehension of reality —mistaking the Self for the body, mind, and ego.

Avidya Causes	Effect
“I am the body”	Fear of death, aging, illness
“I am the mind”	Anxiety, overthinking, depression
“I am the ego”	Fear of failure, rejection, loss
“Happiness comes from objects”	Endless desire, attachment, suffering

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 5, Verse 15) explains:

“The Supreme Reality is not tainted by the sins or merits of anyone. But deluded beings are confused because ignorance (Avidya) covers their true knowledge.”

“If you want to change behavior at the deepest level, do not just change actions. Remove ignorance at the root. The tree of suffering will fall.”

How Avidya Explains Human Behavior

Behavior	Underlying Avidya
Greed	Believing “I am incomplete; more will complete me”
Anger	Believing “I am the ego; my desire must be fulfilled”
Jealousy	Believing “I am separate; their gain is my loss”
Fear of death	Believing “I am the body; when it dies, I die”
Seeking validation	Believing “I am not enough; others must confirm me”

“Every neurotic behavior is Avidya in action. The ego believes it lacks something. It chases. It suffers. The chase never ends because the lack was never real.”

Part 4: Free Will Within Constraints

The Three Factors

Human behavior is determined by three factors, according to Vedanta .

Factor	Sanskrit	Description	Free Will?
Past karma	Prarabdha	Already bearing fruit; cannot be changed	No
Gunas	Sattva, Rajas, Tamas	Current psychological constitution	Partially (can be changed through effort)
Present choice	Purushartha	Free will in the present moment	Yes

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 18, Verse 63) ends with:

“Thus I have explained to you the most secret of all teachings. Reflect on it fully. Then do as you wish.”

“You cannot change the arrow already shot. But you can choose where to aim the next one.”

How Free Will Operates

You Cannot Control…	You Can Control…
Past karma (your birth, body, initial circumstances)	Your present choices
The gunas (they rise and fall)	Your response to the gunas
Other people’s actions	Your own actions and reactions
The results of actions	Your effort

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 47) gives the essence:

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.”

Practical Implication for Changing Behavior

If You Want to…	Focus On…
Change a habit	Create new samskaras through repetition
Change your mental state	Increase Sattva (diet, meditation, Satsanga)
Change your reaction patterns	Witness the impulse without acting
End suffering completely	Remove Avidya through Self-knowledge

“You have free will in this moment. The past is fixed. The future is open. Your power is not in changing yesterday. Your power is in choosing now.”

Part 5: Practical Applications

For Self-Understanding

Question	Vedantic Explanation
“Why do I keep reacting the same way?”	Samskaras (past impressions) are repeating
“Why do I feel restless?”	Rajas dominates
“Why do I feel lazy?”	Tamas dominates
“Why do I feel peaceful and clear?”	Sattva dominates
“Why am I never satisfied?”	You are seeking happiness where it is not (objects)

“Understanding the gunas explains your moods. Understanding samskaras explains your patterns. Understanding Avidya explains your suffering.”

For Changing Behavior (Practical Steps)

Goal	Practice
Increase Sattva	Meditate daily; eat light, fresh food; associate with the wise
Reduce Rajas	Practice detachment from results; reduce multitasking
Reduce Tamas	Wake early; exercise; avoid heavy foods
Break samskaras	Witness the urge; do not act; create new habits
End Avidya	Self-inquiry (“Who am I?”); study scriptures; seek a teacher

Part 6: Common Questions

Why do good people suffer and bad people prosper?
Prarabdha karma (past karma already fruiting) may be operating across lifetimes. A “good” person may be exhausting past bad karma. A “bad” person may be exhausting past good karma.

Can I change my behavior completely?
Yes, through Self-knowledge. When you realize you are not the ego, the ego’s behavior is seen as a dream. The wave still rises and falls, but it knows it is the ocean.

Why do I repeat the same mistakes?
Samskaras. The habit is deep. Change requires consistent practice (Abhyasa) and detachment (Vairagya).

Do I have free will?
Yes, in the present moment. The past is fixed. The future is open. Your choice now matters.

Is Vedanta deterministic?
No. Vedanta is a middle path: past karma creates tendencies, not destiny. Present choice is free.

For a comprehensive guide to understanding and transforming human behavior through Vedanta, Dr. Surabhi Solanki’s Awakening Through Vedanta and How to Attain Moksha in Hinduism provide systematic frameworks for self-understanding and liberation.

One-Line Summary

Vedanta explains human behavior as the result of three interacting forces: the three gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) that constitute the mind and determine our tendencies, the accumulated karmic impressions (samskaras) from past lives that create habitual patterns, and the fundamental ignorance (Avidya) that makes us identify with the body-mind instead of the true Self—with free will operating in the present moment to choose our responses, cultivate Sattva, and ultimately remove Avidya through Self-knowledge, leading to the end of all suffering and the realization that you were never the one who behaved—you were the witness all along.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.