कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् ।रजसस्तु फलं दुःखमज्ञानं तमसः फलम् ॥
karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṃ nirmalaṃ phalam |rajasas tu phalaṃ duḥkham ajñānaṃ tamasaḥ phalam ||
- कर्मणः · karmaṇaḥ
- of action
- सुकृतस्य · sukṛtasya
- of good, well-done
- आहुः · āhuḥ
- they say
- सात्त्विकम् · sāttvikam
- lucid, of sattva's nature
- निर्मलम् · nirmalam
- stainless
- फलम् · phalam
- the fruit
- रजसः · rajasaḥ
- of passion
- दुःखम् · duḥkham
- suffering
- अज्ञानम् · ajñānam
- ignorance
- तमसः · tamasaḥ
- of inertia
“They say the fruit of good action is lucid and stainless; the fruit of passion is suffering, and the fruit of inertia is ignorance.”
— Original plain-language translation
Each guna pays its wages in its own coin: clarity, pain, or blindness. This explains why restless pleasure so reliably curdles into suffering. Only the lucid fruit leaves the mind cleaner than it found it.
— Reader's notes (original)