Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13, Verse 21

पुरुषः प्रकृतिस्थो हि भुङ्क्ते प्रकृतिजान्गुणान् । कारणं गुणसङ्गोऽस्य सदसद्योनिजन्मसु

puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijānguṇān | kāraṇaṃ guṇasaṅgo'sya sadasadyonijanmasu

Translation

Puruṣa, when seated in Prakṛti, experiences the qualities born of Prakṛti. Attachment to the qualities is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

puruṣaḥ

spirit

prakṛtisthaḥ

in matter, sits, thus

hi

indeed

bhuṅkte

enjoys

prakṛtijān

from matter, born

guṇān

qualities

kāraṇam

the cause

guṇasaṅgaḥ

in the qualities, attachment

asya

of his

sadasadyonijanmasu

(in) good, and, (in) evil, and, in wombs, births, in them

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Because Puruṣa, the experiencer, is seated in Prakṛti, in avidyā or nescience — that is to say, because he identifies himself with the body and the senses which are emanations of Prakṛti — he experiences the qualities born of Prakṛti, manifesting themselves as pleasure, pain and delusion; he thinks, "I am happy, I am miserable, I am deluded, I am wise." Over and above avidyā, His attachment to (identification of Himself with) what He experiences — namely, the qualities of pleasure, pain and delusion — forms the main cause of Puruṣa's birth. The Śruti says: "As is his desire, so is his will" (Bṛ. Up. 4.4.5). The experiencer's attachment for qualities leads him to births in good and evil wombs. Good wombs are those of Devas and the like; evil wombs are those of lower animals; the wombs of men are partly good and partly evil. Avidyā and kāma (attachment for qualities) together constitute the cause of saṃsāra.