Verse 14.17
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च | प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च ||१७||
Transliteration (IAST)
sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ rajaso lobha eva ca | pramāda-mohau tamaso bhavato 'jñānam eva ca ||17||
Word-by-Word Meanings
sattvāt-from Sattva
sañjāyate-is born/arises
jñānam-knowledge
rajasaḥ-from Rajas
lobhaḥ-greed
pramāda-mohau-heedlessness and delusion
tamasaḥ-from Tamas
ajñānam-ignorance
Translation
From Sattva arises knowledge; from Rajas, greed; and from Tamas arise heedlessness, delusion, and ignorance.
Commentary
Shankaracharya explains that this verse describes the intellectual products of each guna: Sattva produces discriminative knowledge (viveka-jñāna), Rajas produces insatiable greed that drives further action, and Tamas produces the complete absence of understanding. Madhva notes that these are not merely psychological states but ontological conditions that determine the soul's trajectory.
Themes
jnanakarma
Related Verses
No related verses are available for this verse.