Verse 14.12

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 14.12:

लोभः प्रवृत्तिर् आरम्भः कर्मणाम् अशमः स्पृहा ।
रजस्य् एतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ ॥ १२ ॥

lobhaḥ pravṛttir ārambhaḥ karmaṇām aśamaḥ spṛhā |
rajasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha || 12 ||

lobhaḥ–greed; pravṛttiḥ–profuse activity; ārambhaḥ–endeavour; karmaṇām–for fruitive undertakings; aśamaḥ–dissatisfaction (with material enjoyment) or restlessness; spṛhā–hankering (for sense enjoyment); rajasi–when passion; etāni–all these; jāyante–become manifest; vivṛddhe–in predominance; bharata-ṛṣabha–O best of Bharata’s line.

O best of the Bharata dynasty, when the quality of passion becomes prominent, certain symptoms appear: intense greed, profuse activity, fervent endeavour for fruitive undertakings, dissatisfaction with the results of one’s work and constant hankering for sense pleasure.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

Pravṛtti means ‘various types of endeavours’. Karmaṇām ārambhaḥ means ‘efforts such as the building of a house’, and aśamaḥ means ‘being unfulfilled in sense enjoyment’.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

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

This verse lists a number of symptoms that indicate an increase in the mode of passion. Lobha (greed) means that even when one’s wealth increases from different sources, one still hankers to collect more. Pravṛtti (conduct) means ‘the tendency to always engage in action’. Karmaṇām ārambhaḥ (beginning an undertaking) means ‘endeavours such as the building of mansions’. Aśama (desire) means ‘the cycle of resolution and rejection’: “I will perform this work and then I will do that other work.” Spṛhā (desire) means ‘the desire to obtain good or bad sense objects as soon as one sees them’. In other words, it means a thirst for sense enjoyment.

It is also said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.14):

yadā jayet tamaḥ sattvaṃ rajaḥ saṅgaṃ bhidā calam 
tadā duḥkhena yujyeta karmaṇā yaśasā śriyā

When the quality of passion, which gives rise to attachment and separatism and which is restless by nature, overpowers the modes of goodness and ignorance, a person endeavours tirelessly for fame and wealth, but all he gleans is misery.

Moreover, it is seen in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.9), “kāmādibhī rajo-yuktaṃ–one should understand that the mode of passion is predominating when a desire for sense objects, etc., is present.” While describing guṇī-bhūtā-bhakti in the mode of passion, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.11) states, “yadā āśiṣa āśāsya māṃ bhajeta sva-karmabhiḥ tāṃ rajaḥ prakṛtiṃ vidyāt–when a person worships Bhagavān to acquire sense objects, both he and his worship are in the mode of passion.”