Verse 14.7

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 14.7:

रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णा-सङ्ग-समुद्भवम् ।
तन् निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्म-सङ्गेन देहिनम् ॥ ७ ॥

rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇā-saṅga-samudbhavam |
tan nibadhnāti kaunteya karma-saṅgena dehinam || 7 ||

rajaḥ–the quality of passion; rāga-ātmakam–in the form of attachment; viddhi–know that; tṛṣṇā-saṅga-samudbhavam–arises from desire and attachment to sense enjoyment; tat–it (the mode of passion); nibadhnāti–bound; kaunteya–O son of Kuntī; karma-saṅgena–by attachment to fruitive work; dehinam–the embodied being.

O son of Kuntī, know that the quality of passion manifests through attachment to sense objects and an intense hankering to enjoy them. It binds the embodied living entity by attachment to fruitive actions.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Know that it is the mode of passion that gives mundane pleasure. To desire an object that one does not yet have is called tṛṣṇā, and attachment to objects that have been already attained is called saṅga. Both tṛṣṇā and saṅga are born from rajo-guṇa, the quality of passion, which binds the embodied soul by dint of his attachment to fruitive actions, performed knowingly or unknowingly, dṛṣṭa (seen) or adṛṣṭa (unseen). Thus an affinity with fruitive action is solely due to tṛṣṇā (desire) and saṅga (attachment).

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

It is called rajo-guṇa because it imbues the conditioned souls with attachment to sense objects. The specific feature of rajo-guṇa is the mutual attraction between male and female. It generates a hankering in embodied beings to enjoy material things, such as honour in society or nation, a beautiful wife, good progeny and a happy family. These are the characteristics of the mode of passion.

Because of this material mode of passion, the whole universe has become attached to sense pleasures and has fallen into the bondage of māyā. The influence of the mode of passion is visible everywhere in modern society, but in ancient times the mode of goodness predominated. Yet if even a man in goodness is unable to achieve liberation, what, then, are the chances of it being attained by one influenced by the mode of passion?