Bhagavad Gita 14.17सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च।प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च ॥
sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ rajaso lobha eva cha
pramāda-mohau tamaso bhavato ’jñānam eva cha
Sanskrit recitation
Three moods of nature · 14.1–14.18 · Teaching
Translation
From Sattva arises knowledge, and greed from Rajas; heedlessness and delusion arise from Tamas, and also ignorance.
Hindi translation
सत्त्वगुणसे ज्ञान और रजोगुणसे लोभ आदि ही उत्पन्न होते हैं; तमोगुणसे प्रमाद, मोह एवं अज्ञान भी उत्पन्न होता है।
Meaning
From Sattva When Sattva becomes predominant. Sattva awakesn knowledge just as the sun causes daylight. Sattva enlightens the intellect.Greed is insatiable like fire. Greed brings misery and pain. Greed is born of Rajas. Rajas creates insatiable desire. Rajas makes one blind to the interests and the feelings of others. A Rajasic man treats others as tools to be utilised for his own selfadvancement or selfaggrandisement.Tamas produces shortsightedness, torpor and ignorance. A Tamasic man does not think a bit of the future conseences. He completely identifies himself with the body and begins to fight with people if they injure his body or speak ill of him. He is ready to do any sinful act in retaliation. He has no sense of proportion and no sense of balance or poise.
After Swami Sivananda
Three moods of nature· 14.1–14.18→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 14.1The Blessed Lord said, "I will again declare to thee that supreme knowledge, the best of…
- 14.2Those who, having taken refuge in this knowledge, have attained unity with Me, are neither…
- 14.3My womb is the great Brahma; in it I place the germ; thence, O Arjuna, is the birth of all…
- 14.4Whatever forms are produced, O Arjuna, in any womb whatsoever, the great Brahma is their…
- 14.5These qualities, O Arjuna, born of Nature, bind fast in the body of the embodied, the…
- 14.6Of these, sattva, which is luminous and healthy due to its stainlessness, binds one by…
- 14.7Know, O Arjuna, that Rajas is of the nature of passion, the source of thirst and…
- 14.8But know thou Tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings; it binds fast,…
- 14.9Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Arjuna, while Tamas, verily shrouding…
- 14.10Now, O Arjuna, Sattva prevails, having overpowered Rajas and Tamas; then Rajas, having…
- 14.11When the wisdom-light shines through every gate of this body, then it may be known that…
- 14.12Greed, activity, the undertaking of actions, restlessness, and longing—these arise when…
- 14.13Darkness, inertia, carelessness, and delusion—these arise when Tamas is predominant, O…
- 14.14If the embodied one meets death when Sattva is predominant, then they attain the spotless…
- 14.15Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those who are attached to action; and dying in…
- 14.16They say that the fruit of good action is Sattvic and pure; indeed, the fruit of Rajas is…
14.17From Sattva arises knowledge, and greed from Rajas; heedlessness and delusion arise from…
- 14.18Those seated in Sattva ascend; those of Rajasic nature dwell in the middle; and those of…
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- eva
- indeed
- mohau
- delusion
- jñānam
- knowledge
- lobhaḥ
- greed
- pramāda
- negligence
- sattvāt
- from the mode of goodness
- ajñānam
- ignorance
- rajasaḥ
- from the mode of passion
- tamasaḥ
- from the mode of ignorance
- bhavataḥ
- arise
- sañjāyate
- arises
Read this when you feel
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