Verse 17

Glance

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In plain words

From sattva arises jñāna; from rajas, greed; from tamas arise negligence, delusion, and ajñāna.

Word for word

From sattva arises jñāna, and from rajas greed indeed; negligence and delusion arise from tamas, and ajñāna indeed.

Sri Satchitananda Sai
Other commentaries

The commentators

Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam

किञ्च गुणेभ्यो भवति —

सत्त्वात् लब्धात्मकात् सञ्जायते समुत्पद्यते ज्ञानम् , रजसो लोभ एव च, प्रमादमोहौ च उभौ तमसो भवतः, अज्ञानमेव च भवति ॥ १७ ॥

In plain words

And there's more that follows from these three guṇas —

When sattva has come fully into its own, knowledge is born from it — it simply arises. From rajas, greed, and nothing else. From tamas come both of these: heedlessness and delusion — and ignorance comes with them.

Close to the Sanskrit

Moreover, from the guṇas [this] comes to be —

From sattva — from sattva that has secured its own nature — knowledge is born, arises. And from rajas, greed alone. And both heedlessness and delusion, the two of them, come to be from tamas; and ignorance too comes to be.