Guna

niyatasya tu sannyasah karmano nopapadyate mohat tasya parityagas tamasah parikirtitah

Renunciation of prescribed duties is not appropriate. Abandoning one's obligatory actions out of delusion is declared to be tamasic renunciation. Ignorance-driven withdrawal from duty leads not to liberation but to further bondage.

duhkham ity eva yat karma kaya-klesa-bhayat tyajet sa kritva rajasam tyagam naiva tyaga-phalam labhet

When someone abandons their duty simply because it is difficult or because they fear bodily suffering, such renunciation is rajasic. A person who renounces in this way does not obtain the true fruit of renunciation.

karyam ity eva yat karma niyatam kriyate 'rjuna sangam tyaktva phalam caiva sa tyagah sattviko matah

When obligatory action is performed simply because it ought to be done, with attachment and desire for results abandoned, that renunciation is considered sattvic. This is the highest form of tyaga and the one Krishna recommends.

prithaktvena tu yaj jnanam nana-bhavan prithag-vidhan vetti sarvesu bhutesu taj jnanam viddhi rajasam

That knowledge by which one perceives separately in all beings the many kinds of distinct existences — know that knowledge to be rajasic. It sees multiplicity and difference as ultimate reality, missing the underlying unity.

yat tu kritsnavad ekasmin karye saktam ahaitukam atattvarthavad alpam ca tat tamasam udahritam

That knowledge which clings to one effect as if it were the whole, which is without rational basis, which does not grasp reality as it is, and which is trivial — such knowledge is declared to be tamasic.

niyatam sanga-rahitam araga-dvesatah kritam aphala-prepsuna karma yat tat sattvikam ucyate

Action that is prescribed, performed without attachment, without love or hatred, and without desire for its fruit is called sattvic action. Such action flows from pure duty and is the model for all karma yoga practice.

yat tu kamepsuna karma sahankarena va punah kriyate bahulayasam tad rajasam udahritam

Action that is performed with great effort by one who seeks to gratify desires or who is driven by a sense of ego is declared to be rajasic. The straining quality of such action reveals its root in the restless, desire-driven nature of rajas.

mukta-sango 'naham-vadi dhrityutsaha-samanvitah siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikarah karta sattvika ucyate

The doer who is free from attachment, free from the language of ego, filled with steadiness and enthusiasm, and unaffected by success or failure is called a sattvic doer. This is the portrait of the ideal karma yogi.

ragi karma-phala-prepsur lubdho himsatmako 'sucih harsa-sokanvitah karta rajasah parikirtitah

The doer who is passionate, who desires the fruits of actions, who is greedy, violent in nature, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow is declared to be rajasic. Such a person is driven by turbulent emotions and self-seeking motivation.

ayuktah prakritah stabdhah satho naiskritiko 'lasah visadi dirgha-sutri ca karta tamasa ucyate

The doer who is undisciplined, vulgar, stubborn, deceitful, malicious, lazy, despondent, and procrastinating is called tamasic. This description paints a vivid portrait of the spiritually degraded actor who brings suffering to themselves and others.

visayendriya-samyogad yat tad agre 'mritopamam pariname visam iva tat sukham rajasam smrtam

The happiness that arises from the contact of the senses with their objects, which is nectar-like at first but poison-like in the end — that is declared to be rajasic happiness. Sensory pleasure promises much but ultimately delivers suffering.

yad agre canubandhe ca sukham mohanam atmanah nidralasya-pramadottham tat tamasam udahritam

The happiness that deludes the soul both in the beginning and in consequence, arising from sleep, sloth, and negligence — that is declared to be tamasic happiness. Tamasic pleasure numbs rather than nourishes, deepening delusion.