pṛthaktvena tu yaj jñānaḿ
nānā-bhāvān pṛthag-vidhān
vetti sarveṣu bhūteṣu
taj jñānaḿ viddhi rājasam

Translation

That knowledge by which one sees that in every different body there is a different type of living entity you should understand to be in the mode of passion.

yat tu kṛtsna-vad ekasmin
kārye saktam ahaitukam
atattvārtha-vad alpaḿ ca
tat tāmasam udāhṛtam

Translation

And that knowledge by which one is attached to one kind of work as the all in all, without knowledge of the truth, and which is very meager, is said to be in the mode of darkness.

niyataḿ sańga-rahitam
arāga-dveṣataḥ kṛtam
aphala-prepsunā karma
yat tat sāttvikam ucyate

Translation

That action which is regulated and which is performed without attachment, without love or hatred, and without desire for fruitive results is said to be in the mode of goodness.

yat tu kāmepsunā karma
sāhańkāreṇa vā punaḥ
kriyate bahulāyāsaḿ
tad rājasam udāhṛtam

Translation

But action performed with great effort by one seeking to gratify his desires, and enacted from a sense of false ego, is called action in the mode of passion.

anubandhaḿ kṣayaḿ hiḿsām
anapekṣya ca pauruṣam
mohād ārabhyate karma
yat tat tāmasam ucyate

Translation

That action performed in illusion, in disregard of scriptural injunctions, and without concern for future bondage or for violence or distress caused to others is said to be in the mode of ignorance.

mukta-sańgo ’nahaḿ-vādī
dhṛty-utsāha-samanvitaḥ
siddhy-asiddhyor nirvikāraḥ
kartā sāttvika ucyate

Translation

One who performs his duty without association with the modes of material nature, without false ego, with great determination and enthusiasm, and without wavering in success or failure is said to be a worker in the mode of goodness.

rāgī karma-phala-prepsur
lubdho hiḿsātmako ’śuciḥ
harṣa-śokānvitaḥ kartā
rājasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ

Translation

The worker who is attached to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, and who is greedy, always envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow, is said to be in the mode of passion.

ayuktaḥ prākṛtaḥ stabdhaḥ
śaṭho naiṣkṛtiko ’lasaḥ
viṣādī dīrgha-sūtrī ca
kartā tāmasa ucyate

Translation

The worker who is always engaged in work against the injunctions of the scripture, who is materialistic, obstinate, cheating and expert in insulting others, and who is lazy, always morose and procrastinating is said to be a worker in the mode of ignorance.

buddher bhedaḿ dhṛteś caiva
guṇatas tri-vidhaḿ śṛṇu
procyamānam aśeṣeṇa
pṛthaktvena dhanañ-jaya

Translation

O winner of wealth, now please listen as I tell you in detail of the different kinds of understanding and determination, according to the three modes of material nature.

pravṛttiḿ ca nivṛttiḿ ca
kāryākārye bhayābhaye
bandhaḿ mokṣaḿ ca yā vetti
buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī

Translation

O son of Pritha, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, is in the mode of goodness.