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In Samkhya
Samkhya

Sankhya, also Samkhya, is one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered to be the founder of the Sankhya school, although no historical verification is possible....
 philosophy, one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy

Hindu philosophy is divided into six Sanskrit nastika schools of thought, or darshanas :#Sankhya, a strongly dualist theoretical exposition of mind and matter....
, there are three operating principals that form the basis of manifest creation or Nature (in Sanskrit: prakriti) and they are called: sattva, rajas and tamas. These are known as the three "gunas" and no single guna can exist without the other two. Rajas guna
Guna

The Sanskrit word has the basic meaning of "string" or "a single thread or strand of a cord or twine". In more abstract uses, it may mean "a subdivision, species, kind,quality" or an operational principle or tendency....
 ( in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 rajas, or rajoguna) is responsible for motion and energy and thereby upholds and maintains the activity of the other two gunas; sattva and tamas.






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In Samkhya
Samkhya

Sankhya, also Samkhya, is one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered to be the founder of the Sankhya school, although no historical verification is possible....
 philosophy, one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy

Hindu philosophy is divided into six Sanskrit nastika schools of thought, or darshanas :#Sankhya, a strongly dualist theoretical exposition of mind and matter....
, there are three operating principals that form the basis of manifest creation or Nature (in Sanskrit: prakriti) and they are called: sattva, rajas and tamas. These are known as the three "gunas" and no single guna can exist without the other two. Rajas guna
Guna

The Sanskrit word has the basic meaning of "string" or "a single thread or strand of a cord or twine". In more abstract uses, it may mean "a subdivision, species, kind,quality" or an operational principle or tendency....
 ( in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 rajas, or rajoguna) is responsible for motion and energy and thereby upholds and maintains the activity of the other two gunas; sattva and tamas. Rajas is the force which promotes or upholds the activity of the other aspects of Nature (prakriti) such as one or more of the following: (1) action
Action (philosophy)

In philosophy, action has developed into a sub-field called philosophy of action. Action is what an Agency can do.For example, throwing a ball is an instance of action; it involves an intention, a goal, and a bodily movement guided by the agent....
; (2) change
Change

selfref|For Wikipedia uses, see...
, mutation; (3) passion, excitement; (4) birth
Birth

Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring . The offspring is brought forth from the mother. Different forms of birth are oviparity, vivipary or Ovoviviparity....
, creation, generation. If a person or thing tends to be extremely active, excitable, or passionate, that person or thing could be said to have a preponderance of rajas. It is contrasted with the quality of tamas
Tamas

Tamas may refer to:* Tamas , the philosophical concept of darkness and death, the lowest of the three gunas.* Tamas , a highly acclaimed 1987 TV series/movie about Partition of India directed by Govind Nihalani....
, which is the quality of inactivity, darkness, and laziness, and with sattva
Sattva

In Hindu philosophy, sattva is the highest of the three gunas in Samkhya, sattvika "pure", rajas "dim", and tamas_ "dark"....
, which is the quality of purity, clarity, calmness and creativity. Rajas is viewed as being more positive than tamas
Tamas (philosophy)

In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism Tamas, or tamo-guna, is the lowest of the three gunas. It is a force which promotes one or more of the following: darkness, death, destruction, ignorance, Sloth, resistance....
, and less positive than sattva
Sattva

In Hindu philosophy, sattva is the highest of the three gunas in Samkhya, sattvika "pure", rajas "dim", and tamas_ "dark"....
; except, perhaps, for one who has "transcended the gunas" and achieved equanimity in all fields of relative life.