ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः।
जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था अधो गच्छन्ति तामसाः।।14.18।।
।।14.18।।सत्त्वगुणमें स्थित मनुष्य ऊर्ध्वलोकोंमें जाते हैं रजोगुणमें स्थित मनुष्य मृत्युलोकमें जन्म लेते हैं और निन्दनीय तमोगुणकी वृत्तिमें स्थित मनुष्य अधोगतिमें जाते हैं।
14.18 Sattvasthah, people who conform to sattva, to the actions of sattva ality; gacchanti, go, are born; undhavam, higher up, in the worlds of gods and others. Rajasah, those who conform to rajas; [Those who are endowed with sense-knowledge and actions conseent on the preponderance of rajas.] tisthanti, stay, are born; madhye, in the middle, among human beings. Tamasah, those who conform to tamas, jaghanya-gunavrttasthah [A variant reading is vrttisthah.-Tr.], who conform to actions of the lowest ality of tamas, those who are attached to its actions-sleep, laziness, etc.-, the foolish; gacchanti, go; adhah, down, (i.e.) they are born among cattle etc. The association, owing to the false ignorance in the form of being seated in Nature, that an individual soul has with the gunas-in the form of happiness, sorrow and delusion, and which are matters of experience in such ways as, I am happy, I am sorrowful, I am ignorant,-that (association) is the cause of the individual souls mundane existence characterized by coming to have births in good and bad species. This was stated briefly in the earlier chapter. Elaborating that here in the text beginning with, the alities, viz sattva, rajas and tamas, born of Nature (5), the Lord has said that the nature of the alities, the conduct conforming to the alities, and the power to bind that the alities have through actions conforming to them, and also the course of a person under the bondage, of behaviour conforming to the alities,-all this is false knowledge; it has ignorance as its root and is the cause of bondage. Now, it is necessary to state that Liberation follows from right knowledge. Hence the Lord says:
14.18 See Comment under 14.20
14.18 Thus, in the manner explained, those who rest in Sattva rise upwards, namely, they attain liberation from the bonds of Samsara gradually. Those who, abiding in Rajas which produces greed for heaven etc., engage themselves in actions which constitute the means for obtaining such results. Experiencing those results, they are born again and engage in, and perform, the very same acts. So they remain in the middle. This is mostly suffering, as it is characterised by rirths. Those of Tamasic nature stoop down into lower levels, as Tamas grows ever worse in them. They go downwards i.e., to the lowest state among human beings, then to the condition of animals; then to that of worms; insects etc., then of immovable things, and even to the condition of shrubs and creepers, and ultimately to the condition of stones, wood, clod of earth, straw etc. Sri Krsna now teaches about the manner of those in whom the Sattva has gradually increased by adopting special holy food and performance of special disinterested deeds, and who thus rise upward by transcending the Gunas.
Oordhwam gacchanti sattwasthaa madhye tishthanti raajasaah; Jaghanyagunavrittisthaa adho gacchanti taamasaah.
ūrdhvam—upward; gachchhanti—rise; sattva-sthāḥ—those situated in the mode of goodness; madhye—in the middle; tiṣhṭhanti—stay; rājasāḥ—those in the mode of passion; jaghanya—abominable; guṇa—quality; vṛitti-sthāḥ—engaged in activities; adhaḥ—down; gachchhanti—go; tāmasāḥ—those in the mode of ignorance
