BHAGAVAD-GITA 14:16

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 14:16

 

karmanah sukrtasyahuh

sattvikam nirmalam phalam

rajasas tu phalam duhkham

ajnanam tamasah phalam

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

karmanah--of work; su-krtasya--pious; ahuh--is said; sattvikam--in the

mode of goodness; nirmalam--purified; phalam--the result; rajasah--of

the mode of passion; tu--but; phalam--the result; duhkham--misery;

ajnanam--nonsense; tamasah--of the mode of ignorance; phalam--the

result.

 

TRANSLATION

 

The result of pious action is pure and is said to be in the mode of

goodness. But action done in the mode of passion results in misery,

and action performed in the mode of ignorance results in foolishness.

 

PURPORT

 

The result of pious activities in the mode of goodness is pure.

Therefore the sages, who are free from all illusion, are situated in

happiness. But activities in the mode of passion are simply miserable.

Any activity for material happiness is bound to be defeated. If, for

example, one wants to have a skyscraper, so much human misery has to

be undergone before a big skyscraper can be built. The financier has

to take much trouble to earn a mass of wealth, and those who are

slaving to construct the building have to render physical toil. The

miseries are there. Thus Bhagavad-gita says that in any activity

performed under the spell of the mode of passion, there is definitely

great misery. There may be a little so-called mental happiness--"I

have this house or this money"--but this is not actual happiness.

 

As far as the mode of ignorance is concerned, the performer is without

knowledge, and therefore all his activities result in present misery,

and afterwards he will go on toward animal life. Animal life is always

miserable, although, under the spell of the illusory energy, maya, the

animals do not understand this. Slaughtering poor animals is also due

to the mode of ignorance. The animal killers do not know that in the

future the animal will have a body suitable to kill them. That is the

law of nature. In human society, if one kills a man he has to be

hanged. That is the law of the state. Because of ignorance, people do

not perceive that there is a complete state controlled by the Supreme

Lord. Every living creature is a son of the Supreme Lord, and He does

not tolerate even an ant's being killed. One has to pay for it. So

indulgence in animal killing for the taste of the tongue is the

grossest kind of ignorance. A human being has no need to kill animals,

because God has supplied so many nice things. If one indulges in

meat-eating anyway, it is to be understood that he is acting in

ignorance and is making his future very dark. Of all kinds of animal

killing, the killing of cows is most vicious because the cow gives us

all kinds of pleasure by supplying milk. Cow slaughter is an act of

the grossest type of ignorance. In the Vedic literature (Rg Veda

9.4.64) the words gobhih prinita-matsaram indicate that one who, being

fully satisfied by milk, is desirous of killing the cow is in the

grossest ignorance. There is also a prayer in the Vedic literature

that states:

 

namo brahmanya-devaya

go-brahmana-hitaya ca

jagad-dhitaya krsnaya

govindaya namo namah

 

"My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You are

the well-wisher of the entire human society and world." (Visnu Purana

1.19.65) The purport is that special mention is given in that prayer

for the protection of the cows and the brahmanas. Brahmanas are the

symbol of spiritual education, and cows are the symbol of the most

valuable food; these two living creatures, the brahmanas and the cows,

must be given all protection--that is real advancement of

civilization. In modern human society, spiritual knowledge is

neglected, and cow killing is encouraged. It is to be understood,

then, that human society is advancing in the wrong direction and is

clearing the path to its own condemnation. A civilization which guides

the citizens to become animals in their next lives is certainly not a

human civilization. The present human civilization is, of course,

grossly misled by the modes of passion and ignorance. It is a very

dangerous age, and all nations should take care to provide the easiest

process, Krsna consciousness, to save humanity from the greatest

danger.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.