1 · Learn3 of 6 · 5 min
Study a Verse
Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 14.15
रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते ।
तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥ १५ ॥
rajasi pralayaṁ gatvā
karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate
tathā pralīnas tamasi
mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate
When one dies in the mode of passion, he takes birth among those engaged in fruitive activities; and when one dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
Death in passion leads to birth among those working for rewards; death in ignorance leads to animal life.
Prabhupāda explains that human birth is not guaranteed again. From animal life, one must gradually rise back to human life.
Take to goodness and good association, then rise beyond the modes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness—the aim of human life.
These notes cover verses 14.14–15
Death in different modes
Death in mode of goodness (14.14)
“Amalan” – indicates free from mode of passion and ignorance
Mode of goodness – Purest form of existence in material world
Death in mode of passion and ignorance (14.15)
Establishes that after human life that soul can also go down to lower existence
This refutes that one can never go down from human life
Aim of human life
Take to mode of goodness
Take to good association
Gradually transcend all the three modes and situate yourself in Krishna consciousness
Both, the results of one’s action and the results after one’s death, are predominated by a specific mode of nature and thus bring about certain results
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: prakṛti, guṇa.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
What does BG 14.15 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to nature & guṇas?
Observe which mode shaped your last decision.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.