Verse 14.10

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 14.10:

रजस् तमश् चाभिभूय सत्त्वं भवति भारत ।
रजः सत्त्वं तमश् चैव तमः सत्त्वं रजस् तथा ॥ १० ॥

rajas tamaś cābhibhūya sattvaṃ bhavati bhārata |
rajaḥ sattvaṃ tamaś caiva tamaḥ sattvaṃ rajas tathā || 10 ||

rajaḥ–passion; tamaḥ–ignorance; ca–and; abhibhūya–overwhelming; sattvam–goodness; bhavati–becomes manifest; bhārata–O descendant of Bharata; rajaḥ–passion; sattvam–goodness; tamaḥ–ignorance; ca–and; eva–certainly; tamaḥ–ignorance; sattvam–goodness; rajaḥ–passion; tathā–also.

O descendant of Bharata, when the quality of goodness arises, it overwhelms passion and ignorance. When the quality of passion appears, it subdues goodness and ignorance, and when the quality of ignorance manifests, it overpowers both goodness and passion.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

How do the material modes of nature manifest their influence on their effects, such as happiness, as previously mentioned? Expecting this question, Śrī Bhagavān says that when the mode of goodness manifests, it overpowers the modes of passion and ignorance. Similarly, when the mode of passion manifests, it overrides goodness and ignorance. And when the mode of ignorance manifests, it subjugates goodness and passion. All this takes place by adṛṣṭa-vaśād, ‘the influence of the unseen’.