FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 14.18

ఊర్ధ్వం గచ్ఛన్తి సత్త్వస్థా మధ్యే తిష్ఠన్తి రాజసా: । జఘన్యగుణవృత్తిస్థా అధో గచ్ఛన్తి తామసా: ॥ ౧౮ ॥
ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā
[oordhvam gachchanti sattva-sthaa]
madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ
[madhye tishthanti raajasaah]
jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā
[jaghanya-guna-vritti-sthaa]
adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
[adho gachchanti taamasaah]
Word-for-word
ūrdhvam — upwards gacchanti — go sattva - sthāḥ — those situated in the mode of goodness madhye — in the middle tiṣṭhanti — dwell rājasāḥ — those situated in the mode of passion jaghanya — of abominable guṇa — quality vṛtti - sthāḥ — whose occupation adhaḥ — down gacchanti — go tāmasāḥ — persons in the mode of ignorance .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā
ūrdhvam
upwards
gacchanti
go
sattva - sthāḥ
those situated in the mode of goodness
madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ
madhye
in the middle
tiṣṭhanti
dwell
rājasāḥ
those situated in the mode of passion
jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā
jaghanya
of abominable
guṇa
quality
vṛtti - sthāḥ
whose occupation
adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
adhaḥ
down
gacchanti
go
tāmasāḥ
persons in the mode of ignorance .
Important Words
  • ūrdhvam gacchanti — go upwards
    Ūrdhva — up. The sattvic trajectory has direction. The verse is not vague about it. Each life either climbs, stays, or falls — and the mode of life is the slope.
  • madhye tiṣṭhanti — dwell in the middle
    Tiṣṭhanti — they stand still. Rajasic souls do not climb; they pace at the human level. The reward for endless fruitive action is endless re-entry at the same level. The Gītā's bleakest joke.
  • jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthāḥ — situated in the occupation of the most abominable mode
    A long compound. Jaghanya: most despicable. Guṇa: mode. Vṛtti: occupation, lifestyle. Sthā: situated. The verse does not merely say 'people in tamas' — it says people whose very vṛtti, daily occupation, is jaghanya. Lifestyle is destiny.
  • adhaḥ gacchanti — go downward
    Adhaḥ — down. The exact inverse of ūrdhvam. The verse is structurally symmetric: up, middle, down. Memorize the trio. It maps the cosmic stakes of the modes more compactly than any other verse in the Gītā.
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 Brahmā, 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 tāmasāḥ is very significant here. Tāmasāḥ 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 Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But one who does not take advantage of this opportunity will certainly continue in the lower modes.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
18. Those situated in sattva go to higher planets. Those in rajas remain in the world of humans. Those of the lowest guṇa, tamas, go downwards to hell.
Commentary

According to the amount of sattva one can go upwards to Brahmaloka. Those in rajo guṇa dwell on the human plane (madhye). Those of the lowest (jaghanya) guṇa, with tamasic behavior like inattention and laziness, go to hell (adhaḥ).

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
18. Those situated in sattva go to higher planets. Those in rajas remain in the world of humans. Those of the lowest guṇa, continually situated in ignorance, go downwards to lower species.
Commentary

Now the results for those fixed in the various modes in terms of higher, middle and lower destinations are described. The word vṛtti (conduct) should be understood in connection with mentioned of the other two modes. Those fixed with conduct in sattva (sattva(vṛtti) sthā) go as far as Satya-loka, according to the amount of sattva. Those fixed in conduct of rajas (rājasāḥ) stay in the middle of the universe, in the human world, with a mixture of sin and piety. They take on human forms according to the amount of rajas. Those situated in conduct of tamas, inferior to the other two modes (jaghanya), continually fixed in conduct of inattention and other such qualities, attain birth as animals, birds and non-moving entities according to the amount of tamas. The word tamasā indicates that they are situated constantly in tama guṇa. (People situated in the higher guṇas may sometimes show tama guṇa, but do not attain birth as animals because the tama is not constant.)

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Two verbs are used in this verse to tell of the destinations of those who act in the modes of nature.

Gacchanti, “go,” is used twice to describe the destinations of those in goodness and those in igno-

rance. Tiṣṭhanti, “stay,” indicates that those in passion stay on earth in their next life.

Varieties of activity and other factors, as Kṛṣṇa explains to Uddhava in the Eleventh Canto, affect

how we are influenced by the modes of nature: āgama, which śāstras we hear; āpaù, the water we

drink and the types of food we eat; prajā, our association; deśa, where we live; kāla, the time of

the day; karma, our activities; janma, our conditioning from birth; dhyāna, our thoughts; mantras,

what we chant; and saāskāras, the varṇāśrama ceremonies we undergo, which begin with impreg-

nation and end with burial.

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
14.18 Sattvasthah, people who conform to sattva, to the actions of sattva ality; gacchanti, go, are born; undhavam, higher up, in the worlds of gods and others. Rajasah, those who conform to rajas; [Those who are endowed with sense-knowledge and actions conseent on the preponderance of rajas.] tisthanti, stay, are born; madhye, in the middle, among human beings. Tamasah, those who conform to tamas, jaghanya-gunavrttasthah [A variant reading is vrttisthah.-Tr.], who conform to actions of the lowest ality of tamas, those who are attached to its actions-sleep, laziness, etc.-, the foolish; gacchanti, go; adhah, down, (i.e.) they are born among cattle etc. The association, owing to the false ignorance in the form of 'being seated in Nature', that an individual soul has with the gunas-in the form of happiness, sorrow and delusion, and which are matters of experience in such ways as, 'I am happy,' 'I am sorrowful,' 'I am ignorant,'-that (association) is the cause of the individual soul's mundane existence characterized by coming to have births in good and bad species. This was stated briefly in the earlier chapter. Elaborating that here in the text beginning with, 'the alities, viz sattva, rajas and tamas, born of Nature' (5), the Lord has said that the nature of the alities, the conduct conforming to the alities, and the power to bind that the alities have through actions conforming to them, and also the course of a person under the bondage, of behaviour conforming to the alities,-all this is false knowledge; it has ignorance as its root and is the cause of bondage. Now, it is necessary to state that Liberation follows from right knowledge. Hence the Lord says:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
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.
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
14.18 See Comment under 14.20
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
14.18 Those who are seated in Sattva go upwards; the Rajasic dwell in the middle; and the Tamasic, abiding in the function of the lowest Guna, go downwards.
Commentary

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.

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
14.18 People who conform to sattva go higher up; those who conform to rajas stay in the middle; those who conform to tamas, who conform to the actions of the lowest ality, go down.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
14.18 When Purity is in the ascendant, the man evolves; when Passion, he neither evolves nor degenerates; when Ignorance, he is lost.
Related values & verses
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Prema (Divine Love)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)
Related verses
BG 9.25 BG 16.19 BG 18.71 SB 11.25.22 SB 3.30.30 SB 5.26.7 CC Madhya 19.138 CC Madhya 22.26 CC Madhya 20.118 Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.10.7Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.6
Concepts
SatyaRajas
Study Q&A referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Those in sattva go upward; those in rajas remain at human levels; those in tamas descend to lower forms.
Practical Applications
  • Hold the trajectory implication of each mode.
  • Don't be casual about mode of life.
  • Cultivate the upward trajectory deliberately.
Reflection Questions
  • What is my current trajectory?
  • What course-correction is being asked?
Analogy

Three rivers from one mountain: one flows to the heavens, one stays in the valley, one runs into the underworld. The mode is the slope. Once water enters a slope, the destination is no longer optional.

Stories
Trijaṭā and the demonesses of Laṅkā

In the aśoka grove of Laṅkā, the demonesses guarding Sītā were almost uniformly tamasic — cruel, gluttonous, slow-witted, set on a downward trajectory. Among them sat Trijaṭā, in sattva: she dreamt the true outcome, restrained the others' cruelty, took Sītā's side.

When Laṅkā fell, the same situation produced different destinations. The tamasic demonesses perished with the city. Trijaṭā is recorded as saved. One slope; three rivers; the verse spelled out in a grove.

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Source: vedabase.io

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