BHAGAVAD-GITA 14:18

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 14:18

 

urdhvam gacchanti sattva-stha

madhye tisthanti rajasah

jaghanya-guna-vrtti stha

adho gacchanti tamasah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

urdhvam--upwards; gacchanti--go; sattva-sthah--those situated in the

mode of goodness; madhye--in the middle; tisthanti--dwell;

rajasah--those situated in the mode of passion; jaghanya--of

abominable; guna--quality; vrtti-sthah--whose occupation; adhah--down;

gacchanti--go; tamasah--persons in the mode of ignorance.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the

higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly

planets; and those in the abominable mode of ignorance go down to the

hellish worlds.

 

PURPORT

 

In this verse the results of actions in the three modes of nature are

more explicitly set forth. There is an upper planetary system,

consisting of the heavenly planets, where everyone is highly elevated.

According to the degree of development of the mode of goodness, the

living entity can be transferred to various planets in this system.

The highest planet is Satyaloka, or Brahmaloka, where the prime person

of this universe, Lord Brahma, resides. We have seen already that we

can hardly calculate the wondrous condition of life in Brahmaloka, but

the highest condition of life, the mode of goodness, can bring us to

this.

 

The mode of passion is mixed. It is in the middle, between the modes

of goodness and ignorance. A person is not always pure, but even if he

should be purely in the mode of passion, he will simply remain on this

earth as a king or a rich man. But because there are mixtures, one can

also go down. People on this earth, in the mode of passion or

ignorance, cannot forcibly approach the higher planets by machine. In

the mode of passion, there is also the chance of becoming mad in the

next life.

 

The lowest quality, the mode of ignorance, is described here as

abominable. The result of developing ignorance is very, very risky. It

is the lowest quality in material nature. Beneath the human level

there are eight million species of life--birds, beasts, reptiles,

trees, etc.--and according to the development of the mode of

ignorance, people are brought down to these abominable conditions. The

word tamasah is very significant here. Tamasah indicates those who

stay continuously in the mode of ignorance without rising to a higher

mode. Their future is very dark.

 

There is an opportunity for men in the modes of ignorance and passion

to be elevated to the mode of goodness, and that system is called

Krsna consciousness. But one who does not take advantage of this

opportunity will certainly continue in the lower modes.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.