Shloka 15

Devanagari script

रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसज्;िषु जायते । तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते,रजोगुणके बढ़नेपर मृत्युको प्राप्त होकर कर्मोकी आसक्तिवाले मनुष्योंमें उत्पन्न होता है तथा तमोगुणके बढ़नेपर मरा हुआओं मनुष्य कीट, पशु आदि मूढ़योनियोंमें उत्पन्न होता है

Transliteration

rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate | tathā pralīnas tamasi mūḍhayoniṣu jāyate ||

Translation

One who dies while dominated by rajas is reborn among people driven by action and attachment to results. Likewise, one who passes away under the sway of tamas is reborn in deluded, lower wombs—such as those of insects and animals. The verse frames rebirth as an ethical consequence of the mind’s prevailing quality at death.

Word by Word

रजसिin rajas (the quality of passion)

प्रलयम्dissolution; death

गत्वाhaving gone; having reached

कर्मसक्तिषुamong those attached to action

जायतेis born; arises

तथाlikewise; similarly

प्रलीनःdissolved; merged; dead

तमसिin tamas (the quality of darkness)

मूढयोनिषुin deluded wombs/births (lower species)

जायतेis born; arises

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

rajas

tamas

karma-saṅga (attachment to action)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The dominant guṇa at the time of death shapes the next birth: rajas leads to rebirth among action- and desire-driven humans, while tamas leads to rebirth in deluded, lower forms of life. Ethically, it urges cultivation away from ignorance and compulsive craving.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhīṣma Parva’s doctrinal instruction to Arjuna, the teaching explains how inner qualities (guṇas) govern post-mortem destiny, linking psychological disposition with karmic consequence and future embodiment.