ऊर्ध्वं गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः | जघन्यगुणवृत्तिस्था अधो गच्छन्ति तामसाः
ūrdhvaṃ gacchanti sattvasthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ . jaghanyaguṇavṛttisthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
安住於悅性者向上提升;變性者居於中間;安住於最低劣屬性之行為者,即惰性者,向下沉淪。
People who conform to sattva go higher up; those who conform to rajas stay in the middle; those who conform to tamas, who conform to the actions of the lowest ality, go down.
安住於悅性的人,捨棄肉身後,將升入天界。變性的人,則轉生於此世為人。惰性的人則向下沉淪,即可能投生為牲畜或野獸,或在人類中最低劣的階層出生。這些最低劣的人類,雖具人形,其行為卻如禽獸。人因無明或幻覺知識的力量而認同自然,並執著於自然的屬性,這便是其在高低眾生胎中受生的原因。他因執著於諸屬性而感到快樂、痛苦或迷惑。
Those who abide in Sattva become the lords of heaven after giving up the physical body. The Rajasic are rorn on this earth as human beings. The Tamasic go downwards? i.e.? they will be born in the wormbs of cattle and beasts. They may take their birth amongst the lowest grades of human beings. The lowest grades of human beings are only brutes though they have assumed human form. Their actions are brutal. Therefore it is not necessary for them to enter into animal incarnation.Man identifies himself with Nature on account of the force of ignorance or illusory knowledge and gets attached to the alities of Nature. This is the cause of his birth in the wombs of high or low creatures. He feels? I am happy? miserable or deluded? on account of the attachment to the Gunas.The nature of the Gunas? their functions? how they bind a man to the Samsara? the effects of each Guna when it is predominant? and the plane reached by the man when he is under the influence of a particular Guna are described in the previous verses. Now the Lord describes in the following verse that liberation comes when one knows Him Who is above the three Gunas.