Inner outputs reveal the active guna.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
सत्त्वात्सञ्जायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च |प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऽज्ञानमेव च ||१४-१७||
sattvātsañjāyate jñānaṃ rajaso lobha eva ca . pramādamohau tamaso bhavato.ajñānameva ca ||14-17||
Use this verse before important choices.
Meaning
From sattva arises knowledge; from rajas, greed; and from tamas arise negligence, delusion, and ignorance.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Sattva produces knowledge, rajas produces greed, and tamas produces delusion.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
This verse helps people diagnose their inner condition. If clarity is increasing, sattva is active. If greed and craving rise, rajas is active. If negligence and confusion dominate, tamas is active.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna draws together the inner offspring of each guṇa in a single clear summary. From sattva is born jñāna, true knowledge — the clear seeing of things as they are. From rajas springs lobha, greed, the endless wanting that drives the restless heart. From tamas come pramāda and moha, heedlessness and delusion, along with ajñāna, the ignorance that is its root and signature.
This verse completes the chapter's anatomy of the three qualities by tracing each to the inner faculty it produces. Knowledge clarifies, greed agitates, delusion blinds. Understanding this lets the seeker work backward: when greed arises, rajas is active; when confusion clouds the mind, tamas has risen; when insight dawns, sattva is present.
By recognising the offspring, we identify the parent, and by cultivating the conditions of sattva — simplicity, study, truthfulness, calm — we invite knowledge to be born again and again.
In daily life
Use knowledge, greed, and confusion as warning signals.
A person can ask whether today’s decisions came from clarity, greed, or confusion.
Try this today
Check your dominant inner output before a major decision.
I recognize the guna behind my state.Reflect
What is rising in me: knowledge, greed, or confusion?
Private — only you can see this
Quick check
What does ‘सञ्जायते ज्ञानम्’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on gunas, in other chapters
- Verse 7.13We are mesmerised by life's changing qualities and miss the changeless Divine behind them — wake from the trance and look deeper.
- Verse 4.35True knowledge ends delusion for good, revealing the same Self in all beings and all beings in the divine.
- Verse 5.15The Divine doesn't tally your sins and merits — your suffering comes from ignorance, and the cure is self-knowledge.
- Verse 10.3Knowing the eternal, unborn Divine dissolves the delusion at the root of all wrongdoing.
Swipe left for 14.18 · Your guna determines your direction.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 14.17
Who says Bhagavad Gita 14.17, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 14.17, in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 14.17 mean?
From sattva arises knowledge; from rajas, greed; and from tamas arise negligence, delusion, and ignorance. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 14.17 for daily life?
Use knowledge, greed, and confusion as warning signals. A person can ask whether today’s decisions came from clarity, greed, or confusion.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 14.17 mean?
सत्त्वात् — from sattva; सञ्जायते ज्ञानम् — knowledge arises; रजसः — from rajas; लोभः एव च — and greed; प्रमादमोहौ — heedlessness and delusion.
Where does verse 14.17 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 17 of 27 in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 14.18.