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Ch 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 14, Verse 15: Krishna to Arjuna — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 14.15Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh
रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते ।
तथा प्रलीनस् तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥
rajasi← rajas(13 verses)locative neuter singular nounpassion, activity (the second guṇa); dustattested in commentariesadvaitaगुणे विवृद्धे प्रलयं मरणं गत्वा प्राप्य कर्मसङ्गिषु कर्मासक्तियुक्तेषु मनुष्येषु जायतेviśiṣṭādvaitaप्रवृद्धे मरणं प्राप्य फलार्थं कर्म कुर्वतां कुलेषु जायते तत्र जनित्वा स्वर्गादिफलसाधनकर्मसु अधिकरोति इत्यर्थःbhaktiप्रवृद्धे सति मृत्युं प्राप्य कर्मासक्तेषु मनुष्येषु जायतेadvaita-bhaktiप्रवृद्धे सति प्रलयं मृत्युं गत्वा प्राप्य कर्मसङ्गिषु श्रुतिस्मृतिविहितप्रतिषिद्धकर्मफलाधिकारिषु मनुष्येषु जायते pralayaṃ← pralaya(6 verses)accusative masculine singular noundissolution, cosmic destruction (pra- + √lī 'dissolve') gatvā← gam(14 verses)convto go (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaप्राप्य कर्मसङ्गिषु कर्मासक्तियुक्तेषु मनुष्येषु जायतेadvaita-bhaktiप्राप्य कर्मसङ्गिषु श्रुतिस्मृतिविहितप्रतिषिद्धकर्मफलाधिकारिषु मनुष्येषु जायते karma← karman(144 verses)compound (compound member)action, deed, the law of actionattested in commentariesviśiṣṭādvaitaकुर्वतां कुलेषु जायते तत्र जनित्वा स्वर्गादिफलसाधनकर्मसु अधिकरोति इत्यर्थः-saṅgiṣu← saṅgin(2 verses)locative masculine plural nounattached, clinging (from saṅga + -in) jāyate← √jan(10 verses)present indicative 3rd person singular verbto be born; to produce (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaita। तथा तद्वदेव प्रलीनः मृतः तमसि विवृद्धे मूढयोनिषु पश्वादियोनिषु जायते ।।अतीतश्लोकार्थस्यैव संक्षेपः उच्यते --,viśiṣṭādvaitaतत्र जनित्वा स्वर्गादिफलसाधनकर्मसु अधिकरोति इत्यर्थःśuddhādvaita। तमसीति अधोयोनिषु नीचलोकेषु जायते।bhakti। तथा तमसि प्रवृद्धे सति प्रलीनो मृतो मूढयोनिषु पश्वादिषु जायते।advaita-bhakti। तथा तद्वदेव तमसि प्रवृद्धे प्रलीनो मृतो मूढयोनिषु पश्वादिषु जायते।
tathā← tathā(47 verses)thus, in that manner; likewise pralīna← pra-√lī(3 verses)nominative masculine singular participle nounto dissolve, be absorbed (pra- + √lī)s tamasi← tamas(16 verses)locative neuter singular noundarkness, inertia (the third guṇa); ignoranceattested in commentariesadvaitaविवृद्धे मूढयोनिषु पश्वादियोनिषु जायतेviśiṣṭādvaitaप्रवृद्धे मृतो मूढयोनिषु श्वसूकरादियोनिषु जायते सकलपुरुषार्थारम्भानर्हो जायते इत्यर्थःbhaktiप्रवृद्धे सति प्रलीनो मृतो मूढयोनिषु पश्वादिषु जायतेadvaita-bhaktiप्रवृद्धे प्रलीनो मृतो मूढयोनिषु पश्वादिषु जायते mūḍha← √muh(9 verses)compound participle (compound member)to be deluded, faint (verbal root)-yoniṣu← yoni(10 verses)locative masculine plural nounwomb, source, origin jāyate← √jan(10 verses)present indicative 3rd person singular verbto be born; to produce (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaita। तथा तद्वदेव प्रलीनः मृतः तमसि विवृद्धे मूढयोनिषु पश्वादियोनिषु जायते ।।अतीतश्लोकार्थस्यैव संक्षेपः उच्यते --,viśiṣṭādvaitaतत्र जनित्वा स्वर्गादिफलसाधनकर्मसु अधिकरोति इत्यर्थःśuddhādvaita। तमसीति अधोयोनिषु नीचलोकेषु जायते।bhakti। तथा तमसि प्रवृद्धे सति प्रलीनो मृतो मूढयोनिषु पश्वादिषु जायते।advaita-bhakti। तथा तद्वदेव तमसि प्रवृद्धे प्रलीनो मृतो मूढयोनिषु पश्वादिषु जायते।
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Die in rajas and you are reborn among people swept up in restless, fruit-seeking action; die in tamas and you descend into the dull births of animal life.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    When rajas (the activating guna) is ascendant at the moment of death, the jiva (individual self) takes birth among human beings who are karmāsakti (bound by attachment to action) — those whose momentum is outward, accumulative, result-seeking. When tamas (the obscuring guna) is dominant at dissolution, the jiva descends into mūḍha-yoni (births of confusion) such as animal and lower forms, for tamas veils discriminative awareness entirely. Śaṅkara frames this as a compressed restatement of earlier verses: the gunas do not merely colour action in life but literally determine the trajectory of the jiva-stream at its most decisive juncture, until viveka (discrimination) dissolves guna-identification altogether.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Under expanded rajas at death, one is reborn in the households of those who perform karma for worldly fruit — svarga (heaven) and the like — thereby gaining adhikāra (eligibility) to pursue further fruit-oriented rites in that birth. Under expanded tamas, the jiva falls into mūḍha-yoni such as dogs and pigs, births that are sarvapuruṣārtha-arambha-anarha (unfit for the pursuit of any human end). Rāmānuja's framing is functionalist: each birth carries a specific ritual and devotional capacity, and tamas-birth forfeits that capacity entirely, making return to bhakti-yoga preparation a longer arc.

  • Madhvadvaita

    *Rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate* — the *jīva* (individual self) whose death occurs under the dominance of *rajas* (the quality of passion and restless activity) is reborn among those bound to *karma*, action-saturated human births where *bhakti* (devotion) remains structurally possible yet perpetually crowded by craving and motion. *Tathā pralīnas tamasi mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate* — the *jīva* whose dissolution occurs under *tamas* (the quality of inertia and obscuration) descends into *mūḍha-yoni*, the births of the deluded — animal and sub-human orders — where *jñāna* (knowledge) of *svatantra* (the independently real, self-sufficient) Hari is most deeply occluded. The *pañca-bheda* (the five-fold real distinction: Lord–jīva, Lord–matter, jīva–jīva, jīva–matter, matter–matter) is not dissolved by either descent: the *jīva* remains *paratantra* (eternally dependent) through every birth. These births are not the mechanical output of impersonal *guṇa*-momentum; Hari's sovereign will governs which *yoni* receives which *jīva*, the *guṇas* being instruments of that dispensation, not its ground. *Taratamya* (graded ontological hierarchy) obtains even here: births in *rajas* retain greater proximity to *bhakti* than births deep in *tamas*, yet neither proximity nor distance alters the *jīva*'s essential *paratantra* nature.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Vallabha's commentary is terse and vertical: rajas at death → birth in madhyama-loka (the middle worlds) among karma-saturated people; tamas at death → adho-yoni (lower births) in nīca-loka (lower realms). The Puṣṭi-mārga inference is that neither trajectory is final — Kṛṣṇa's prasāda (grace) can interrupt the guna-sequence at any point, since the gunas themselves are His līlā. The verse is not a counsel of despair but a map of obstruction: where gunas occlude Kṛṣṇa's own sweetness from the jiva's view.

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Śrīdhara reads the verse as a plain bhāṣya expansion of the prior two: rajas ascendant at death → birth among humans who are karmāsakta (attached to action, action-sticky); tamas ascendant at death → birth in paśv-ādi (animal and like births), where buddhi (intelligence) is dulled below the threshold of spiritual inquiry. The devotional implication is left implicit in Śrīdhara's balanced voice but is structurally present: only sattva at death opens the door upward (as BG 14.14 just stated), making the cultivation of sāttvika qualities in daily practice the single most consequential preparation for death.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Madhusūdana refines Śaṅkara's summary by specifying the quality of the karmāsakta human births under rajas: they are births among those who are adhikāri (entitled) for both śruti-smṛti-vihita (prescribed) and pratiṣiddha (prohibited) karmas and their fruits — meaning, people fully enmeshed in the dharmic-adharmic fruit-economy. Tamas at death → paśv-ādi (animal and like births), identical to Śaṅkara. Madhusūdana's synthesis: knowledge without bhakti cannot dissolve guna-dominance at the critical moment, and bhakti without knowledge cannot recognise which guna is ascendant — the two faculties must mature together for the death-moment to be clear.

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