14.15

Sanskrit

रजसि प्रलयं गत्वा कर्मसङ्गिषु जायते । तथा प्रलीनस्तमसि मूढयोनिषु जायते ॥

rajasi pralayaṃ gatvā karmasaṅgiṣu jāyate tathā pralīnas tamasi mūḍhayoniṣu jāyate

Translation

Having gone to dissolution in Motion, he is born among those attached to action; if dissolved in Inertia, he is born in the wombs of the senseless.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Verse 14’s pattern completed for the other two gunas: dying under rajas leads to rebirth among those attached to action, dying under tamas to rebirth in dull, senseless wombs. Together verses 14-15 give a full three-way mapping of guna-at-death to the character of the next birth, closing the death-and-destiny thread the chapter opened at verse 14 before turning, in verses 16-17, from destiny after death to the fruit and content of action performed under each guna during life.