Chapter 14, Verse 15
रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते | तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ||१४-१५||
rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate . tathā pralīnastamasi mūḍhayoniṣu jāyate ||14-15||
Meaning
14.15 Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those who are attached to action; and dying in Tamas, he is born in the womb of the senseless.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna completes the picture begun in the previous verse, tracing the onward path of those who die under rajas or tamas. One who departs while rajas dominates — restless, craving, attached to deeds — is reborn among the karma-saṅgī, people likewise driven by action and desire, continuing the cycle of striving. One who dies sunk in tamas is born into mūḍha-yoni, the wombs of the dull and deluded, where ignorance again clouds the soul.
Taken with verse 14, this forms a clear ladder. The guṇa that governs us at the end carries us into a like environment, perpetuating its tendencies. This is neither punishment nor reward but the natural momentum of consciousness, like water running into its accustomed channel. The teaching gently presses the seeker upward: live so that sattva, not rajas or tamas, becomes your habitual ground, for habit becomes character, and character shapes the road ahead.
💡 Key Takeaway
The quality that rules you at the end pulls you toward more of the same — so steer your habitual state upward, not down.
Related Verses
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः | निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ||१४-५||
sattvaṃ rajastama iti guṇāḥ prakṛtisambhavāḥ . nibadhnanti mahābāho dehe dehinamavyayam ||14-5||
14.5 Purity, passion and inertia these alities, O Arjuna, born of Nature, bind fast in the body, the embodied, the indestructible.
तत्र सत्त्वं निर्मलत्वात्प्रकाशकमनामयम् | सुखसङ्गेन बध्नाति ज्ञानसङ्गेन चानघ ||१४-६||
tatra sattvaṃ nirmalatvātprakāśakamanāmayam . sukhasaṅgena badhnāti jñānasaṅgena cānagha ||14-6||
14.6 Of these, Sattva, which from its stainlessness is luminous and healthy, binds by attachment to happiness and by attachment to knowledge, O sinless one.
रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् | तन्निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम् ||१४-७||
rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇāsaṅgasamudbhavam . tannibadhnāti kaunteya karmasaṅgena dehinam ||14-7||
14.7 Know thou Rajas to be of the nature of passion, the source of thirst (for sensual enjoyment) and attachment; it binds fast, O Arjuna, the embodied one by attachment to action.