Sanskrit · Devanagari
ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः। जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था अधो गच्छन्ति तामसाः ॥
Sanskrit · IAST
ūrdhvaṃ gacchanti sattvasthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ jaghanyaguṇavṛttisthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
English witness
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882Those who adhere to (the ways of) goodness go up the passionate remain in the middle while those of the qualities of darkness adhering to the ways of the lowest quality
This verse-level alignment is machine-assisted and awaits two independent human checks. Confidence signal: 18%.
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29 translations and commentaries are aligned to this verse. Choose up to three; the root verse and Telang witness stay above them.
Śaṅkarācārya
।।14.18।। --,ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति देवलोकादिषु उत्पद्यन्ते सत्त्वस्थाः सत्त्वगुणवृत्तस्थाः। मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति मनुष्येषु उत्पद्यन्ते राजसाः। जघन्यगुणवृत्तस्थाः जघन्यश्च असौ गुणश्च जघन्यगुणः तमः? तस्य वृत्तं निद्रालस्यादि? तस्मिन् स्थिताः जघन्यगुणवृत्तस्थाः मूढाः अधः गच्छन्ति पश्वादिषु उत्पद्यन्ते तामसाः।।पुरुषस्य प्रकृतिस्थत्वरूपेण मिथ्याज्ञानेन युक्तस्य भोग्येषु गुणेषु सुखदुःखमोहात्मकेषु सुखी दुःखी मूढः अहम् अस्मि इत्येवंरूपः यः सङ्गः तत्कारणं पुरुषस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मप्राप्तिलक्षणस्य संसारस्य इति समासेन पूर्वाध्याये यत् उक्तम्? तत् इह सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः (गीता 14।5) इति आरभ्य गुणस्वरूपम्? गुणवृत्तम्? स्ववृत्तेन च गुणानां बन्धकत्वम्? गुणवृत्तनिबद्धस्य च पुरुषस्य या गतिः? इत्येतत् सर्वं मिथ्याज्ञानमूलं बन्धकारणं विस्तरेण उक्त्वा? अधुना सम्यग्दर्शनान्मोक्षो वक्तव्यः इत्यत आह भगवान् --,
dcbe09c2461f…Rāmānuja
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.
a487361635a9…Swami Sivananda
14.18 ऊर्ध्वम् upwards? गच्छन्ति go? सत्त्वस्थाः in Sattva seated? मध्ये in the middle? तिष्ठन्ति dwell? राजसाः the Rajasic? जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्थाः abiding in the function of the lowest Guna? अधः downwards? गच्छन्ति go? तामसाः the Tamasic.Commentary Those who abide in Sattva become the lords of heaven after giving up the physical body. The Rajasic are rorn on this earth as human beings. The Tamasic go downwards? i.e.? they will be born in the wormbs of cattle and beasts. They may take their birth amongst the lowest grades of human beings. The lowest grades of human beings are only brutes though they have assumed human form. Their actions are brutal. Therefore it is not necessary for them to enter into animal incarnation.Man identifies himself with Nature on account of the force of ignorance or illusory knowledge and gets attached to the alities of Nature. This is the cause of his birth in the wombs of high or low creatures. He feels? I am happy? miserable or deluded? on account of the attachment to the Gunas.The nature of the Gunas? their functions? how they bind a man to the Samsara? the effects of each Guna when it is predominant? and the plane reached by the man when he is under the influence of a particular Guna are described in the previous verses. Now the Lord describes in the following verse that liberation comes when one knows Him Who is above the three Gunas.
519fd2c7764e…These supplied texts come from the pinned VedicScriptures dataset under GPL-3.0 and await independent alignment review.