रजो रागात्मकं विद्धि तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् ।तन्निबध्नाति कौन्तेय कर्मसङ्गेन देहिनम् ॥
rajo rāgātmakaṃ viddhi tṛṣṇāsaṅgasamudbhavam |tan nibadhnāti kaunteya karmasaṅgena dehinam ||
- रजः · rajaḥ
- passion (rajas)
- रागात्मकम् · rāgātmakam
- of the nature of craving
- विद्धि · viddhi
- know
- तृष्णासङ्गसमुद्भवम् · tṛṣṇāsaṅgasamudbhavam
- born of thirst and clinging
- तत् · tat
- it
- निबध्नाति · nibadhnāti
- binds
- कौन्तेय · kaunteya
- O son of Kunti
- कर्मसङ्गेन · karmasaṅgena
- by attachment to action
- देहिनम् · dehinam
- the embodied one
“Know passion to be of the very stuff of craving, born of thirst and clinging, O Kaunteya — it binds the embodied one through attachment to activity.”
— Original plain-language translation
Rajas is the engine of endless doing: desire sets goals, action chases them, and the fruits breed fresh desire. Its bondage is subtler than it looks, since much of it passes for ambition and duty. The test is whether we can stop.
— Reader's notes (original)