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Ch 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga
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Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 14, Verse 7: Krishna to Arjuna — Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 14.7Chapter 14 · Guṇatraya-Vibhāga-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Kaunteya · anuṣṭubh
रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् ।
तन् निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम् ॥
rajo rāg← rāga(11 verses)compound (compound member)passion, attachment, colorātmakaṃ← ātmaka(6 verses)accusative neuter singular nounhaving the nature of (ātman + -ka 'pertaining to') viddhi← √vid(76 verses)present imperative 2nd person singular verbto know; to find (verbal root)attested in commentariesadvaitaजानीहिbhakti। अतएव तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम्। तृष्णा अप्राप्तेऽर्थेऽभिलाषः, सङ्गः प्राप्तेऽर्थे प्रीतिर्विशषेणासक्तिस्तयोस्तृष्णासङ्गयोः सadvaita-bhakti। अतएव अप्राप्ताभिलाषस्तृष्णा, प्राप्तस्योपस्थितेऽपि विनाशे संरक्षणाभिलाष आसङ्गतयोस्तृष्णासङ्गयोः संभवो यस्मात्तद्रजो नि tṛṣṇā← tṛṣṇācompound (compound member)thirst, craving (from √tṛṣ)saṅga← saṅga(20 verses)compound (compound member)attachment, contact (= saṅga in earlier dict — alternate spelling)-samudbhavam← samudbhava(5 verses)accusative neuter singular nounorigin (sam- + ud- 'up' + √bhū 'become')
tan nibadhnāti← ni-√bandh(9 verses)present indicative 3rd person singular verbto bind, tie down (ni- + √bandh)attested in commentariesviśiṣṭādvaitaक्रियासु हि स्पृहया याः क्रिया आरभते देही, ताःadvaita-bhaktiहे कौन्तेय, कर्मसङ्गेन कर्मसु दृष्टादृष्टार्थेषु अहमिदं करोम्येतत्फलं भोक्ष्य इत्यभिनिवेशविशेषेण देहिनं वस्तुतोऽकर्तारम kaunteya← kaunteya(25 verses)vocative masculine singular nounson of Kuntī (epithet of Arjuna)attested in commentariesadvaitaकर्मसङ्गेन, दृष्टादृष्टार्थेषु कर्मसु सञ्जनं तत्परता कर्मसङ्गः, तेन निबध्नाति रजः देहिनम्advaita-bhakti, कर्मसङ्गेन कर्मसु दृष्टादृष्टार्थेषु अहमिदं करोम्येतत्फलं भोक्ष्य इत्यभिनिवेशविशेषेण देहिनं वस्तुतोऽकर्तारमेव कर्तृत्व karma← karman(144 verses)compound (compound member)action, deed, the law of action-saṅgena← saṅga(20 verses)instrumental masculine singular nounattachment, contact (= saṅga in earlier dict — alternate spelling) dehinam← dehin(10 verses)accusative masculine singular nounembodied being; the soul in a body
spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip
meaning

Know rajas as passion-natured, born of craving for what you lack and clinging to what you have; through that hunger for results, it binds the embodied soul to action.

Bhāṣyakāra purports

  • Śaṅkaraadvaita

    Rajas is raga-atmakam (passion-natured) — know it as born of trishna (craving for the unattained) and sanga (mental adhesion to what is attained). Shankara is precise: ragas is the redness (ranjana) that stains the mind like ochre dye, not a neutral force. Through karma-sanga — intense orientation toward seen and unseen results of action — rajas binds the dehin (embodied one), who is in reality the unbound Atman mistaking itself for an agent.

  • Rāmānujaviśiṣṭādvaita

    Rajas originates as the cause (hetu) of mutual longing between enjoyer and enjoyed — Ramanuja specifies raga as the mutual attraction (anyonya-spriha) between a person and sense-objects. Trishna is desire toward all sound-and-form objects; sanga is the yearning for continued union with kin and companions. Rajas binds the dehin by generating spriha (appetite) toward actions, and those actions being of punya-papa (merit-demerit) character, they produce births in corresponding wombs, sustaining samsara-bandha.

  • Madhvadvaita

    Rajas is raga-atmakam — Madhva's terse note confirms that trishna and sanga are its twin causes (karana), not merely its products. For Dvaita the point is ontological: the jiva, eternally distinct from Hari, when governed by rajas acts from its own appetite rather than as dependent servant (paratantra). This self-sourced appetitive action is precisely the binding (nibandha): the jiva accumulates karma that obscures its natural condition of Hari-servitude.

  • Vallabhaśuddhādvaita

    Rajas is anuraga-atmakam — Vallabha cites the root ranj (to colour, to attract) directly. The binding is karmasu ranjana: rajas draws the jiva into action by colouring it with delight, making karma adhesive. In Pushti-marga this is the state prior to prasada-labhа: the soul attracted to worldly rasa rather than Krishna-rasa. Vallabha's reading implies that the same ranjana-shakti, when redirected by grace, becomes the very capacity for divine anuraga (loving attachment to the Lord).

  • Śrīdharabhakti

    Sridhara defines rajas clearly as anuranjana-rupa (the form of colouring-attraction). Trishna is abhilasha toward the unattained; sanga is priti-visheshena-asakti — a specifically intensified fondness for what is already possessed. Together they generate karma-asakti (attachment-in-action), and through that double adhesion rajas binds the dehin firmly (nitaram badhnati) to both seen (drishta) and unseen (adrishta) fruit-seeking. The bhakta must recognize this double grip before devotion can dissolve it.

  • Madhusūdanaadvaita-bhakti

    Madhusudhana gives the fullest phenomenology: raga is the very svarupa (essential nature) of rajas — the person is dyed by sense-objects (rajyate vishayeshu). Trishna is craving for the unattained; asakti is the wish to protect what one possesses even as it perishes. Rajas then binds through karma-sanga understood as the specific conviction 'I am the doer, I will enjoy this result' (aham idam karomi etat phalam bhokshye) — an abhinivedha-vishesha that superimposes kartritva (agency) on the one who is in reality akarta (non-agent).

Sūtrakṛt-Gītā · v1.0 · gita.ekrasworks.com