रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते ।तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥
rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate |tathā pralīnas tamasi mūḍhayoniṣu jāyate ||
- रजसि · rajasi
- in passion
- प्रलयम् · pralayam
- death, dissolution
- गत्वा · gatvā
- having met
- कर्मसङ्गिषु · karmasaṅgiṣu
- among those attached to action
- जायते · jāyate
- is born
- तथा · tathā
- likewise
- प्रलीनः · pralīnaḥ
- dissolved, dead
- तमसि · tamasi
- in inertia
- मूढयोनिषु · mūḍhayoniṣu
- in deluded wombs
- जायते · jāyate
- is born
“Meeting death in a state of passion, one is born among the driven and work-bound; dying in inertia, one is born in deluded wombs.”
— Original plain-language translation
The symmetry is exact: each guna delivers its fitting rebirth. Rajas returns to the world of busy striving; tamas sinks toward uncomprehending births. Far from fatalism, this makes present inner work the shaper of the future.
— Reader's notes (original)