Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
सत्त्वं सुखे सञ्जयति रजः कर्मणि भारत ।
ज्ञानमावृत्य तु तमः प्रमादे सञ्जयत्युत ॥९॥
sattvaṁ sukhe sañjayati
rajaḥ karmaṇi bhārata
jñānam āvṛtya tu tamaḥ
pramāde sañjayaty uta
Word for word (synonyms)
- sattvam
- mode of goodness
- sukhe
- in happiness
- sañjayati
- develops
- rajaḥ
- mode of passion
- karmaṇi
- fruits of activities
- bhārata
- O son of Bharata
- jñānam
- knowledge
- āvṛtya
- covering
- tu
- but
- tamaḥ
- the mode of ignorance
- pramāde
- in madness
- sañjayati
- develops
- uta
- it is said
Translation
The mode of goodness conditions one to happiness, passion conditions him to the fruits of action, and ignorance to madness.
Defined in the Gītā
Happiness
What is real happiness?
O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress. That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.
Purport
A person in the mode of goodness is satisfied by his work or intellectual pursuit, just as a philosopher, scientist, or educator may be engaged in a particular field of knowledge and may be satisfied in that way. A man in the modes of passion and goodness may be engaged in fruitive activity; he owns as much as he can and spends for good causes. Sometimes he tries to open hospitals, give to charity institutions, etc. These are the signs of one in the mode of passion. And the mode of ignorance covers knowledge. In the mode of ignorance, whatever one does is neither good for him nor for anyone.
What this verse teaches
Summary
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.