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Can an atheist be Sattvik?

[Prof. JSR Prasad asked:- Sāṣṭāṅga namaskāram Swami. One professor in Ayurveda from Kerala commented that an atheist can be Sāttvika by having plenty of Sattvam quality. Is it correct? -At Your divine lotus feet]

Swami Replied:- Sattvam is characterised by knowledge and such knowledge is also spiritual knowledge (Sattvāt sañjāyate jñānam, Adhyātmavidyā vidyānaṃ- Gita). An atheist is always fond of the knowledge of the world and not of God. Sometimes, you may mistake a Tāmasa fellow (predominant of Tamas quality) as a person predominant of Sattvam. The reason is that a Tāmasa fellow is very lazy and keeps silent many a time. He sleeps while opening the eyes. Then, you mistake him as a perfect gentleman and so as a person predominant of Sattvam quality. Such false impression comes due to illusion. An atheist can be a Rājasik fellow or a Tāmasik fellow or a fellow of both Rajas and Tamas exhibiting one of these two qualities in certain specific contexts. When the atheist exhibits Tamas quality, there is every possibility for you to undergo illusion and think the atheist as a Sāttvika fellow (predominant of Sattvam quality). When Kumbhakarna was awaken from the deep sleep, he immediately advised Ravana to stop the war. This is not due to his Sattvam quality. Since he was awakened in the middle of deep sleep, he thought that if the war is stopped, he could continue the rest half of the deep sleep. You may mistake him as a Sāttvika fellow advising Ravana like this due to his proficient spiritual knowledge!

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