14.17
Chapter 14, Verse 17
सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च। प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च৷৷
sattvātsañjāyatē jñānaṅ rajasō lōbha ēva ca. pramādamōhau tamasō bhavatō.jñānamēva ca৷৷
Translation
Purity engenders Wisdom, Passion avarice, and Ignorance folly, infatuation and darkness.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
सत्त्वात् from purity, सञ्जायते arises, ज्ञानम् knowledge, रजसः from activity, लोभः greed, एव even, च and, प्रमादमोहौ heedlessness and delusion, तमसः from inertia, अज्ञानम् ignorance, एव even, च and. Commentary: From Sattva When Sattva becomes predominant. Sattva awakesn knowledge just as the sun causes daylight. Sattva enlightens the intellect.Greed is insatiable like fire. Greed brings misery and pain. Greed is born of Rajas. Rajas creates insatiable desire. Rajas makes one blind to the interests and the feelings of others. A Rajasic man treats others as tools to be utilised for his own selfadvancement or selfaggrandisement.Tamas produces shortsightedness, torpor and ignorance. A Tamasic man does not think a bit of the future conseences. He completely identifies himself with the body and begins to fight with people if they injure his body or speak ill of him. He is ready to do any sinful act in retaliation. He has no sense of proportion and no sense of balance or poise.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.