Bhagavad Gita 14.15
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 15 of 27
रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते । तथा प्रलीनस् तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥
rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate | tathā pralīnas tamasi mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate ||
Dying in rajas, one is born among the action-attached; dying in tamas, one is born in irrational wombs.
Word by word (3)
- rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate
- — dying (pralayam gatvā = having gone to dissolution) when rajas dominates — one is born among the karma-saṅgin (those attached to action)
- tathā pralīnaḥ tamasi
- — similarly (tathā), one dissolved (pralīna = merged into) in (dominant) tamas
- mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate
- — is born in the wombs of the mūḍha (deluded, irrational — mūḍha = foolish, bewildered; including animal species and subhuman rebirths)
Dying while rajas is predominant, one is born among those who are attached to action (karma-saṅgina). Dying while tamas is predominant, one is born in the wombs of the deluded/irrational (mūḍha-yoni).
A modern analogy
The guṇa dominant at death is like the last address in your GPS — it determines your next starting point. Rajas → reborn in a restless, action-driven environment where you'll have more of the same. Tamas → reborn in a deeply deluded environment or body where it's even harder to wake up.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those attached to action; and, dying in Tamas, he is born in the wombs of the irrational. [1]
Meeting death in Rajas he is born among those attached to action; so dying in Tamas, he is born in the wombs of the irrational. [4]
Dying in passion, one is born among those attached to action; and dying in darkness, one is born in the wombs of the irrational. [9]
Dying in the midst of Passion, (one) is born among those attached to action; dying in Tamas, (one) is born in the wombs of the deluded. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The fruit of sattvic action is pure; the fruit of rajas is pain; the fruit of tamas is ignorance.
Rajas — passion, thirst, attachment — binds the embodied one specifically through attachment to action.
This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
Sattva, rajas, tamas — three guṇas born of Prakṛti — bind the indestructible ātman in every body.
Sattva-abiders go upward; rajasic dwell in the middle; tamas-abiders sink downward — the cosmic gradient.
Tāmasic karma: begun from delusion, ignoring consequences, waste, injury to beings, and one's own capacity.
Verse 15 of 27 · back to Chapter 14