Rajas turns desire into restless action.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् |तन्निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम् ||१४-७||
rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇāsaṅgasamudbhavam . tannibadhnāti kaunteya karmasaṅgena dehinam ||14-7||
Use this verse when restlessness drives action.
Meaning
Know rajas to be of the nature of passion, born of craving and attachment; it binds the embodied being through attachment to action.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Rajas binds through craving, attachment, and restless action.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
Rajas is the force of movement, ambition, desire, and constant doing. It can create productivity, but also anxiety, comparison, and exhaustion.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna turns to rajas, the guṇa of passion and restless drive. Its essence is rāga — attraction, craving — and it springs from tṛṣṇā, an unquenchable thirst, and saṅga, the clinging to objects of desire. Rajas is the engine of ambition and busy striving in the human heart.
Its particular chain is karma-saṅga, attachment to action. The rajasic person cannot rest; they are bound not by what they achieve but by their compulsive need to keep doing, keep wanting, keep reaching for the next thing. Activity itself is not the bondage — the Gita honours action — but the thirsty, results-craving attachment to it is.
This is why Krishna elsewhere prescribes nishkāma karma, action without grasping for its fruit: the same deeds, performed without rajasic thirst, no longer bind. Rajas keeps us spinning; awareness lets us act and stay free.
In daily life
Notice when action comes from craving rather than dharma.
A founder checking metrics every hour may be driven by rajas rather than clear strategy.
Try this today
Pause before one restless action and ask: is this dharma or craving?
I act from dharma, not restless craving.Reflect
Which action is driven by craving today?
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Quick check
What does ‘कौन्तेय’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on rajas, in other chapters
- Verse 18.34Persistence harnessed to attachment and craving for results is restless, passion-bound resolve.
- Verse 3.37The real enemy within is insatiable desire, which sours into anger — name it clearly, for an enemy understood can be conquered.
- Verse 13.22What you cling to shapes where you go — attachment to nature's qualities keeps the wheel of rebirth turning.
- Verse 15.2Desire-driven actions send down new roots that bind us deeper into the cycle of becoming.
Swipe left for 14.8 · Tamas hides truth through dullness.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 14.7
Who says Bhagavad Gita 14.7, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 14.7, in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga (Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 14.7 mean?
Know rajas to be of the nature of passion, born of craving and attachment; it binds the embodied being through attachment to action. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 14.7 for daily life?
Notice when action comes from craving rather than dharma. A founder checking metrics every hour may be driven by rajas rather than clear strategy.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 14.7 mean?
रजः — rajas (passion); रागात्मकम् — of the nature of longing/attraction; विद्धि — know; तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् — born of thirst and attachment; तत् निबध्नाति — it binds fast.
Where does verse 14.7 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 7 of 27 in Chapter 14, Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga. The next verse is 14.8.