There are three gunas—passion, ignorance, and goodness. In goodness, you can understand things and develop knowledge of God, such as understanding that He created this world, the sun, and the moon. Even though it may not be perfect knowledge, that is goodness.
In passion, one identifies himself with his material body and tries to gratify his senses. In ignorance, it is compared to animal life, so one doesn't know who God is or why he is suffering. For example, if a goat is to be killed after five minutes but you give it a morsel of grass, it is happy because it is eating. A child—you are planning to kill him, but he is happy and laughing because he is innocent. That is ignorance. So, "A man gets higher or lower birth according to the association of the gunas or the modes of nature," it is stated in Bhagavad-gita.
Cheating is a mixture of passion and ignorance. If a person cheats another, that means he wants to gain something; that is passion. But if he commits murder because he doesn't know that he will have to suffer for it, that is ignorance. So, cheating can be a mixture of passion and ignorance.
Charity is also of three kinds: goodness, passion, and ignorance. If you help someone by giving charity, just like in the Krsna consciousness movement—if anyone gives charity to this movement, it helps spread God consciousness; that is good charity. If one gives charity to get something in return, that is passion. If someone gives charity to an unworthy person, for example, someone on the Bowery streets who may immediately purchase a bottle of wine and lie down, that is ignorance. One should give charity after considering the circumstances.
Krsna says, "Whatever you do, eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform—do that as an offering to Me." If Krsna accepts your offering, that is the perfection of charity. If anyone who is a representative of Krsna accepts it, that is also perfection.
Giving food to someone who is hungry—what kind of charity is that? It depends on the circumstances. For example, if a doctor forbids someone from eating solid food and that patient asks you to give him solid food, and you give it to him, that is ignorance.
What about devotees of the Lord? They are above all modes of material nature, even above goodness. Devotees are not in this material world; they are situated in spiritual consciousness. Service in the absence of devotion is not really service; it is business. For example, Prabhupada gave the example of a contractor whom he hired for the temple. That was not devotional service because the contractor was simply doing paid work.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu prays to Krsna, "You do whatever You like, but still You are my worshipable Lord." That is the mood of service: "I don't ask anything from You in return." When you expect something in return, that is business.
Prabhupada explained that instead of using our ability to ask questions about unnecessary things, we should ask questions related to the Lord, because such inquiry is beneficial and satisfying for everyone.
Marriage is an important but temporary stage of life in the Vedic system. A person may remain a brahmacari student for life or choose to marry and enter grhastha life. After fulfilling family responsibilities, one gradually becomes detached from family life and enters vanaprastha and ultimately sannyasa. In this way, the Vedic system provides a gradual path from family responsibilities toward detachment and spiritual life.
Conclusion
The three modes of nature—goodness, passion, and ignorance—control material life. By developing Krsna consciousness and engaging in devotional service, we can rise above these modes and become spiritually elevated.