BG 14.16 — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 14.16Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् ।

रजसस् तु फलं दुःखमज्ञानं तमसः फलम् ॥

karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṃ nirmalaṃ phalam

rajasas tu phalaṃ duḥkham ajñānaṃ tamasaḥ phalam

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Good action yields a pure, luminous fruit; action driven by rajas yields suffering; action driven by tamas yields ignorance.

ekras · bhāṣya

Of sukrita karma — virtuous action — the fruit is sattvika and nirmala — luminous, unstained. Of rajasic karma the fruit is duhkha — suffering. Of tamasic karma the fruit is ajnana — ignorance itself. Each guna's action yields a fruit congruent with its source. Cause and effect must match in register.

Shankara reads as a strict causal taxonomy. Sattva-karma yields a fruit nirmala — unmixed with rajas or tamas. Rajasic action yields only duhkha because the cause is inherently turbulent — karana-anurupyat, the rule that fruit follows cause. Tamasic action yields ajnana, since the obscuring guna can produce only obscured fruit. The chapter is teaching the disciple that he can read the type of his action by looking at the type of fruit he keeps receiving.

Madhusudana gives the verse as a samkshepa — compression — of the guna-karma-fruit triad, explicitly labeling it a precis before the full treatment in chapter 18. Sattvika dharma yields sattvena nirvritta nirmala fruit — rajas-tamo-mala-amishrita, unmixed with the impurities of rajas and tamas — which is sukha. Rajasic karma yields duhkha; tamasic karma yields ajnana. The chapter's diagnostic precision is in the fruit-recognition.

Ramanuja situates the verse within a detailed death-moment ecology: at the time of death, when sattva predominates, a person born among atmavidah — knowers of the self — who performs sukrita free from phala-abhisandhi — fruit-desire — and shaped as mat-aradhana, service to Bhagavan, receives a yet-more-sattva-amplifying nirmala fruit. Rajasic death propels the soul into karma-asakti births where rajasic fruit recurs as duhkha. Tamasic death yields ajnana-births.

Madhva focuses his commentary on correcting a potential misreading of duhkha for rajas. Rajasic fruit is not sheer agony but alpa-sukha-duhkha — pain-with-a-trace-of-pleasure — which is still fundamentally duhkha. He cites the Sharkaraksha-shakha: 'rajo hi eva jayate matraya sukham; duhkham tasmat tan sukhino duhkhina iti achakshate.' Rajas produces pleasure only by measure; the underlying register is duhkha. The bhakta who chases rajas-pleasure receives the duhkha that pleasure is wrapped in.

Vallabha frames the verse around the amarana-samaye — the not-at-the-death-moment — meaning ordinary life-time action, complementing 14.14-15's death-moment treatment. Sattvic sukrita yields a fruit nirmala — free from the gandha, the odor, of both duhkha and ajnana. Rajasic fruit is duhkha, tamasic fruit is ajnana; both perpetuate the cycle of birth. The bhakta in pushti-marga learns to recognize the gandha of the fruit as it arrives and to redirect the action whose fruit it is.

Shridhara opens with the verse's structural purpose: to show how each guna, through its respective characteristic actions, becomes the cause of variegated fruits. Sattvic sukrita yields a sattvika fruit, nirmala, prakasha-bahula — luminous. He cites Kapila and others as the ahuh — they say — authority. Rajasic karma is called prakrita, ordinary, fruit-laden; its fruit is duhkha. Tamasic karma yields ajnana — and ajnana is what tamasic karma brings the doer back to in the next life.

Context

where

Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 14.15

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.

What's going on

Good action yields a pure, luminous fruit; action driven by rajas yields suffering; action driven by tamas yields ignorance.

Sūtras through this verse (29)

MadhvaclassicalT3

Ranking is real — and it never collapsesbetween

6.9Devas, asuras, mortals are three native kinds.───→here14.16───→14.27Brahman has gradations within its own form.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

12.20These devotees are exceedingly dear.───→here14.16───→14.26Unwavering love fits one for brahman.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

11.54Undivided love — sādhana stripped, grace-clothed.───→here14.16───→14.26Beyond the modes is grace-rooted love.

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MadhvaclassicalT4

Liberation is bliss in body — not absorptionbetween

14.2At creation's reissue the released remain free.───→here14.16───→15.6The supreme abode does not return its dwellers.

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadbetween

14.3Kāṣāyaṇa-śruti gives three goddesses one job each.───→here14.16───→18.14Āyāsya-śruti closes the agency question.

MadhvaclassicalT10

The deluder is named — three goddesses, one Lordbetween

14.3Three goddesses named in a single śruti.───→here14.16───→15.4Cut the world-tree by knowing whose play it is.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

2.72Akṣapāda and Kaṇāda are simply ruled out.───→here14.16───→14.27What stands behind brahman is fixed by named texts.

MadhvaclassicalT8

Direct vision — the only proximate causeexit

13.25Three classes, one ladder, each class on a different rung.───→here14.16───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalH

The grammar of single-pointednessbetween

12.6Single-aim devotion draws the lifting hand.───→here14.16───→14.26Unswerving devotion crosses the modes.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spinebetween

14.1Now, the highest of all knowings.───→here14.16───→15.1Dispassion first; else neither knowing nor love.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

9.32Even the low-born reach the highest goal.───→here14.16───→14.18The modes decide which womb is next.

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workbetween

14.5Three modes bind the imperishable.───→here14.16───→14.18Sattva up, rajas mid, tamas downward.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

12.13Friend to all, equal in cold and in heat.───→here14.16───→14.24Past the modes, equal in praise and blame.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here14.16───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalapproach

───→here14.16───→14.26Fit for the state of brahman, not fused.

ŚrīdharaclassicalI

His evenness as ground for refugeexit

13.10A steady evenness is the seeker's mark.───→here14.16───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesbetween

14.1Two-verse prelude names guṇa-vibhāga.───→here14.16───→18.1Closing chapter's prelude seals the program.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

11.54Bhāgavata + Brahmasūtra fuse at the vision-verse.───→here14.16───→14.26Brahman dwells in the one beyond the modes.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

13.13Not a power-of-the-Lord; the Lord himself, formless.───→here14.16───→14.27I am the foundation of formless Brahman itself.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

12.20The middle six closes on the fearless ripened one.───→here14.16───→14.27The brahma-ground obtains in this body.

VallabhaclassicalE

Three paths, one teaching orderexit

13.2The third ṣaṭka is the Lord's own bhāṣya.───→here14.16───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalA

Three groups of six: you, the Lord, the joiningexit

13.1The last six work what 'are' really means.───→here14.16───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyatebetween

13.7Twenty jñāna-qualities: still description.───→here14.16───→14.22Guṇātīta-lakṣaṇa follows the same rule.

ĀnandagiriclassicalJ

Prakṛti is never autonomousbetween

14.1Modes belong to the Lord's prakṛti.───→here14.16───→15.7Aṃśa pinned to the Lord, not free.

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)between

14.1Beyond sāṅkhya: the modes that bind.───→here14.16───→18.1The closing chapter gathers all questions.

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktabetween

14.5Three modes bind the soul.───→here14.16───→14.17Each mode, its effect.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessbetween

14.5Three primary contractions of cit.───→here14.16───→14.19Past the modes by recognizing, not replacing.

Gauravmodernthree_yogas_braid

Three Yogas Braidexit

12.12'Shreyo hi jnanam abhyasaj jnanad dhyanam vishishyate, dhyanat karma-phala-tyaga───→here14.16───→

JayatīrthaclassicalA

Body and embodied — the inference runs on the dehī sideexit

13.5Field and knower: body-self cut returns.───→here14.16───→

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 14 occurrences)

कर्मणः karman — action, deed, the law of action · genitive neuter singular noun
तमसः tamas — darkness, inertia (the third guṇa); ignorance · genitive neuter singular noun
कृतस्य √kṛ — to do, make (verbal root) · genitive neuter singular participle noun
दुःखम् duḥkha — suffering, sorrow, pain · accusative neuter singular noun

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फलम् phala ×3 — fruit, result · accusative neuter singular noun
सु su — good, well; auspicious prefix
आहुः √ah — to say, declare (defective verbal root) · past indicative 3rd person plural verb
सात्त्विकम् sāttvika — sāttvika (derived from sattva: 'pertaining to the sattva guṇa') · accusative neuter singular noun
निर्मलम् nirmala — stainless, pure (nis- + mala 'stain') · accusative neuter singular noun
रजसः rajas — passion, activity (the second guṇa); dust · genitive neuter singular noun
तु tu — but, on the other hand (particle)
अज्ञानम् ajñāna — ignorance, lack of knowledge (a- + jñāna) · accusative neuter singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If the fruit of rajasic action is always duhkha even when it initially feels pleasant, how do I identify the guna-quality of an action I am about to take rather than only in retrospect?
02The verse lists three fruits — nirmala, duhkha, ajnana — but Madhva argues rajasic fruit includes residual pleasure. Does mixed-outcome action still bind, and if so, how?

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03Ramanuja describes a self-reinforcing rajasic loop across lifetimes (rajo-vrddhi perpetuating itself). What breaks the loop — a single sattvic act, or a structural shift in one's kula (family context)?
04Sridhara points forward to BG 18 for the full taxonomy of sattvic-rajasic-tamasic action. What is the danger of trying to classify your own actions as sattvic before that fuller picture is in view?
05Vallabha's 'amarana-samaye' framing makes death-moment guna-balance decisive for the next life's trajectory. What does that imply for how one should govern the last waking hour each day?
06Madhusudana says tamasic fruit is 'ajnana-aviveka-prayam' — ignorance that is also absence of discrimination. Is the worst fruit of tamas not suffering but the inability to recognize suffering as suffering?
07All schools agree sattvic fruit is 'nirmala' — stainless. But Shankara sees this as preparatory for jnana, Ramanuja as amplification of bhakti-readiness, and Vallabha as Krsna's prasada-texture. Does the difference in endpoint change how one should pursue sattvic action?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Audit one repeated daily action this week by asking: what is its karmic guna-signature? If the fruit is duhkha — even mild restlessness or a sense of incompleteness — trace it to rajasic motivation (desire for outcome, comparison, urgency) rather than excusing it as circumstance. Shankara's 'karananurupyat' (congruence of cause and effect) means the fruit is diagnostic of the motive. Use that diagnosis as jnana-preparation, not self-criticism.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

In Ramanuja's ecology, 'phalabhisandhi-rahita' (fruit-desire-free) action directed as 'madaradhana' (service to Bhagavan) creates a compounding sattvic trajectory across one's life. Choose one professional or domestic task today and perform it explicitly as kainkarya — not as performance or virtue-signaling, but as an act addressed to Bhagavan. Notice whether the quality of attention shifts when the addressee changes.

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Dvaita

Madhva's precision about rajasic fruit ('alpasukha-duhkha') is a tool for honest self-accounting. When you reach the end of a rajasic day — one organized around acquisition, comparison, or social approval — count the pleasure carefully. Is it large or thin? Madhva says it will be 'alpasukha' (a little pleasure). That accounting, done honestly over a week, is a Dvaita practice: measuring the actual ratio of Hari-dependent joy versus jiva-ego-generated 'alpasukha'.

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's 'nirmala' — free from the very odour of duhkha and ajnana — points to a quality of action that does not leave an aftertaste. Pusti-marga practice here: after any significant action today, check not just whether it felt good in the moment but whether it left a residue of craving, comparison, or confusion. If it did, it was not sattvic regardless of its external form. The goal is prasada-texture: clean-ending action.

Bhakti

Sridhara's forward pointer to BG 18 is a counsel of humility for bhaktas: do not be too quick to classify your service as 'sattvic' before you have studied the full discriminating marks ('niyatam sangarahitam'). In bhakti practice this means: before deciding your devotional activity is 'pure', ask whether it still carries sangha (social attachment), ego-recognition, or outcome-dependence. The verse is a checkpoint, not a clearance.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's grammatical note — 'rajas' and 'tamas' stand by upacara (figure) for the actions they produce — is an invitation to a subtle daily audit: when I say 'my nature is rajasic', am I naming a guna or the actions and their fruits I have been generating? The advaita-bhakti synthesis here is practical: self-knowledge ('I am not the guna, I am the witness') and devotion ('I offer the action to Krsna') work together. The figure of speech dissolves ego-identification with the guna while the devotional frame re-consecrates the action.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 14, Verse 16: Krishna to Arjuna — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga