Devanagari
रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् ।
तन्निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम् ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
rajo rāgātmakaṁ viddhi
tṛṣṇā-saṅga-samudbhavam
tan nibadhnāti kaunteya
karma-saṅgena dehinam
Synonyms
rajaḥ
—
the mode of passion
;
rāga-ātmakam
—
born of desire or lust
;
viddhi
—
know
;
tṛṣṇā
—
with hankering
;
saṅga
—
association
;
samudbhavam
—
produced of
;
tat
—
that
;
nibadhnāti
—
binds
;
kaunteya
—
O son of Kuntī
;
karma-saṅgena
—
by association with fruitive activity
;
dehinam
—
the embodied.
Translation
The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, O son of Kuntī, and because of this the embodied living entity is bound to material fruitive actions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
7. O son of Kuntī, know that rajas, consisting of attraction, arising from longing for the unattained and attachment to the attained, binds the jīva with attachment to action.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
7. O son of Kuntī, know that rajas, consisting of mutual attraction between men and women, and which gives rise to longing for the unattained and attachment to the attained, binds the jīva with attachment to action.
Purport
The mode of passion is characterized by the attraction between man and woman. Woman has attraction for man, and man has attraction for woman. This is called the mode of passion. And when the mode of passion is increased, one develops the hankering for material enjoyment. He wants to enjoy sense gratification. For sense gratification, a man in the mode of passion wants some honor in society, or in the nation, and he wants to have a happy family, with nice children, wife and house. These are the products of the mode of passion. As long as one is hankering after these things, he has to work very hard. Therefore it is clearly stated here that he becomes associated with the fruits of his activities and thus becomes bound by such activities. In order to please his wife, children and society and to keep up his prestige, one has to work. Therefore, the whole material world is more or less in the mode of passion. Modern civilization is considered to be advanced in the standard of the mode of passion. Formerly, the advanced condition was considered to be in the mode of goodness. If there is no liberation for those in the mode of goodness, what to speak of those who are entangled in the mode of passion?
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Know that rajo-guṇa consists of attraction (rāgātmakam). When one does not obtain ones desired objects, one develops desire (tṛṣṇa), and when one obtains ones objects, one develops attachment (saṅga). Rajo-guṇa gives rise to these two. Rajo-guṇa binds up the soul (dehinam) by attachment (saṅgena) to actions, in quest of present and future goals. Attachment to action arises by desire and attachment (tṛṣṇa and saṅga).
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
Rajas is said to be identical (ātmakam) with the mutual affection between men and women (rāgā), since that affection is both the cause and effect of increased rajas. Moreover, rajas gives rise to the desire for sense objects (tṛṣṇa) such as sound, and the desire for association (saṅga) with sons, friends and others. Accordingly, the following definition is given. rāga-tṛṣṇāsaṅga-kāraṇaṁ rajaḥ: rajas is the cause of attraction between men and women, the desire of sense objects and desire for association of other persons. This rajas binds the jīva (dehinam) by possessing those desires in his actions (karma saṅgena), which are for the purpose of attaining women, sense objects and sons. He does activities with a desire for these things. These actions enable him to attain the objects, which are means for enjoying the results of action. He repeats these actions and receives similar results. Thus he is not liberated from rajas.