Have the glass chimney of the lamp clean; its light will shine bright. Have a glass that is multi-coloured; its light will be dimmed. On the other hand, if the lamp is kept inside a mud pot, the darkness will continue as it was. The lamp is the same but the container affects its expression. Sathwaguna is the lamp that shines clear through the white glass chimney; Rajoguna is the many-coloured glass chimney that makes the light dim and poor; and Thamoguna is the mud pot inside which the lamp is totally ineffective.

Sathwaguna is Atmajnana; Rajoguna is sullied to some extent, as smoke sullies the chimney and dims the light, and it also agitates the flame of the lamp so that it is not straight and steady; Thamoguna is the suppression of the light or Jnana that is the very nature of man.