Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 14, Verse 15
रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते । तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते
rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate | tathā pralīnastamasi mūḍhayoniṣu jāyate
Translation
Meeting death in Rajas, he is born among those attached to action; and, dying in Tamas, he is born in the wombs of the irrational.
— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri
Word meanings
- rajasi
- in mobility
- pralayam
- to dissolution
- gatvā
- having gone
- karmasaṅgiṣu
- in action, attachment, whose, amongst them
- jāyate
- is born
- tathā
- so
- pralīnaḥ
- dissolved
- tamasi
- in inertia
- mūḍhayoniṣu
- of the senseless, in the wombs
- jāyate
- is born
Śaṅkarācārya's commentary
If he meets death when Rajas is predominant, he is born among men, who are attached to action. The irrational: cattle and the like.