Devanagari
रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते ।
तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
rajasi pralayaṁ gatvā
karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate
tathā pralīnas tamasi
mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate
Synonyms
rajasi
—
in passion
;
pralayam
—
dissolution
;
gatvā
—
attaining
;
karma-saṅgiṣu
—
in the association of those engaged in fruitive activities
;
jāyate
—
takes birth
;
tathā
—
similarly
;
pralīnaḥ
—
being dissolved
;
tamasi
—
in ignorance
;
mūḍha-yoniṣu
—
in animal species
;
jāyate
—
takes birth.
Translation
When one dies in the mode of passion, he takes birth among those engaged in fruitive activities; and when one dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
15. He who dies in the mode of rajas attains a position among persons attached to work. He who dies in the mode of tamas is born in the wombs of the foolish.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
15. He who dies in the mode of rajas attains a position among persons attached to work. He who dies in the mode of tamas is born in the wombs of the lower species.
Purport
Some people have the impression that when the soul reaches the platform of human life it never goes down again. This is incorrect. According to this verse, if one develops the mode of ignorance, after his death he is degraded to an animal form of life. From there one has to again elevate himself, by an evolutionary process, to come again to the human form of life. Therefore, those who are actually serious about human life should take to the mode of goodness and in good association transcend the modes and become situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the aim of human life. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that the human being will again attain to the human status.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Those who die in the mode of rajas are born among men attached to work (karma-saṅgiṣu).
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Dying with a predominance of rajas, a person is born among men attached to kāmya karmas [Note: Kāmya karmas are scripturally ordained acts which are optional, performed for fulfilling personal desires ,such as begetting children or gaining wealth.] (karma saṅgiṣu). Dying with a predominance of tamas, a person is born among animal species or something similar.
Surrender Unto Me
Next will be the result of actions in the modes. It is quite a thorough description of how the modes of material nature control those in the material world and they push them, their destinations are going to be...
[8. Actions in goodness result in piety, seeing things as they are, and life on heavenly planets; actions in passion result in misery, greed and life on earthly planets; and actions in ignorance result in foolishness, madness, illusion, and life in hell. (16‑18) ]