Chapter 14, Verse 16
कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् | रजसस्तु फलं दुःखमज्ञानं तमसः फलम् ||१४-१६||
karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṃ nirmalaṃ phalam . rajasastu phalaṃ duḥkhamajñānaṃ tamasaḥ phalam ||14-16||
Meaning
14.16 The fruit of good action, they say, is Sattvic and pure, verily the fruit of Rajas is pain, and ignorance is the fruit of Tamas.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna now describes the harvest each guṇa yields, for actions take their colour from the quality that motivates them. Deeds done in sattva — sukṛta, good and well-performed — bear a nirmala, stainless fruit: peace, wisdom, and clean satisfaction. Actions driven by rajas, however well they begin, ripen into duḥkha, pain, because craving can never be filled and its objects always slip away. And the fruit of tamasic action is ajñāna — deepening ignorance and confusion.
This is a teaching about consequences read from the inside. We may judge an action by its outward result, but the Gita asks us to look at the inner motive, for that determines the true harvest. Work done with calm clarity leaves the heart lighter; work done from greed leaves it heavier, whatever the outcome; work done in heedless dullness only thickens the fog. The same deed, differently motivated, ripens into peace, pain, or darkness.
💡 Key Takeaway
The inner quality behind your actions, not just their outcome, decides whether you harvest peace, pain, or confusion.
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.