श्रुतं तीर्थं पवित्रञ्च श्रद्धोत्पन्ना च राजसी । निर्गतस्तत्र तीर्थे वै दृष्टं चैव यथाश्रुतम्
A sacred place is heard of, purified, and rajasic faith arises; one goes to that place and sees it as heard.
स्नातस्तत्र कृतं कृत्यं दत्तं दानं च राजसम् । स्थितस्तत्र कियत्कालं रजोगुणसमावृतः
One bathes there, performs rites, gives gifts in a rajasic manner, and stays there for some time, enveloped by the quality of rajas.
रागद्वेषान्न निर्मुक्तः कामक्रोधसमावृतः । पुनरेव गृहं प्राप्तो यथापूर्वं तथा स्थितः
Not freed from attachment and aversion, enveloped by desire and anger, one returns home and remains as before.
श्रुतं च नानुभूतं वै तेन तीर्थं मुनीश्वर । न प्राप्तं च फलं यस्मादश्रुतं विद्धि नारद
What is heard but not experienced, O sage, does not yield the result of visiting the sacred place; know, Narada, that what is not heard is fruitless.
निष्पापत्वं बलं विद्धि तीर्थस्य मुनिसत्तम । कृषेः फलं यथा लोके निष्पन्नान्नस्य भक्षणम्
O best of sages, know that the power of a sacred place lies in its freedom from sin, just as in the world, the fruit of cultivation is the enjoyment of the food produced.
पापदेहविकारा ये कामक्रोधादयः परे । लोभो मोहस्तथा तृष्णा द्वेषो रागस्तथा मदः
The transformations of the sinful body are those such as desire, anger, greed, delusion, thirst, hatred, attachment, and pride.
असूयेर्ष्याक्षमाशान्तिः पापान्येतानि नारद । न निर्गतानि देहात्तु तावत्पापयुतो नरः
These are the sins, O Nārada: envy, jealousy, impatience, and lack of peace; as long as these have not departed from the body, a person remains bound by sin.
कृते तीर्थे यदैतानि देहान्न निर्गतानि चेत् । निष्फलः श्रम एवैकः कर्षकस्य यथा तथा
If, after visiting a sacred place, these have not left the body, then the effort is fruitless, just like the toil of a farmer that yields nothing.
श्रमेणापीडितं क्षेत्रं कृष्टा भूमिः सुदुर्घटा । उप्तं बीजं महार्घं च हिता वृत्तिरुदाहृता
A field afflicted by toil, land that is difficult to till, and precious seed sown—such is considered a beneficial livelihood.
अहोरात्रं परिक्लिष्टो रक्षणार्थं फलोत्सुकः । काले सुप्तस्तु हेमन्ते वने व्याघ्रादिभिर्भृशम्
Day and night, exhausted with effort, eager for the fruit, he guards it; but in winter, if he sleeps in the forest, he is greatly troubled by tigers and the like.
भक्षितं शलभैः सर्वं निराशश्च कृतः पुनः । तद्वत्तीर्थश्रमः पुत्र कष्टदो न फलप्रदः
If all is eaten by locusts and he is left hopeless again, in the same way, O son, the hardship of pilgrimage brings pain but not reward.
सत्त्वं समुत्कटं जातं प्रवृद्धं शास्त्रदर्शनात् । वैराग्यं तत्फलं जातं तामसार्थेषु नारद
When sattva becomes strong and grows through the study of scripture, then, O Nārada, its fruit is detachment from objects born of darkness.
प्रसह्याभिभवत्येव तद्रजस्तमसी उभे । रजः समुत्कटं जातं प्रवृत्तं लोभयोगतः
That sattva forcefully overcomes both rajas and tamas; when rajas becomes strong, it arises through association with greed.
तत्तथाभिभवत्येव तमःसत्त्वे तथा उभे । तमस्तथोत्कटं भूत्वा प्रवृद्धं मोहयोगतः
Then it likewise overcomes both tamas and sattva; and when tamas becomes intense and grows through delusion, it prevails.
तत्सत्त्वरजसी चोभे सङ्गम्याभिभवत्यपि । विस्तरं कथयाम्यद्य यथाभिभवतीति वै
That tamas, joining with both sattva and rajas, also overcomes them; today I will explain in detail how this overcoming takes place.
यदा सत्त्वं प्रवृद्धं वै मतिर्धर्मे स्थिता तदा । न चिन्तयति बाह्यार्थं रजस्तमःसमुद्भवम्
When sattva increases and the mind is established in dharma, then it does not consider external objects arising from rajas and tamas.
अर्थं सत्त्वसमुद्भूतं गृह्णाति च न चान्यथा । अनायासकृतं चार्थं धर्मं यज्ञं च वाञ्छति
It accepts only that which arises from sattva, and not otherwise; it desires actions, dharma, and sacrifice that are accomplished without strain.
सात्त्विकेष्वेव भोगेषु कामं वै कुरुते तदा । राजसेषु न मोक्षार्थं तामसेषु पुनः कुतः
At that time, it seeks enjoyment only in sattvic pleasures; not in rajasic ones for the sake of liberation, and certainly not in tamasic ones.
एवं जित्वा रजः पूर्वं ततश्च तमसो जयः । सत्त्वं च केवलं पुत्र तदा भवति निर्मलम्
Thus, having conquered rajas first and then tamas, only sattva remains, O son, and then it becomes pure.
यदा रजः प्रवृद्धं वै त्यक्त्वा धर्मान् सनातनान् । अन्यथाकुरुते धर्माच्छ्रद्धां प्राप्य तु राजसीम्
When rajas increases, abandoning the eternal dharmas, one acts otherwise, having attained rajasic faith instead of dharma.
राजसादर्थसंवृद्धिस्तथा भोगस्तु राजसः । सत्त्वं विनिर्गतं तेन तमसश्चापि निग्रहः
From rajas comes the increase of wealth, and enjoyment is also rajasic; by this, sattva departs, and tamas is also restrained.
यदा तमो विवृद्धं स्यादुत्कटं सम्बभूव ह । तदा वेदे न विश्वासो धर्मशास्त्रे तथैव च
When tamas grows and becomes intense, then there is no faith in the Veda, nor in the scriptures of dharma.
श्रद्धां च तामसीं प्राप्य करोति च धनात्ययम् । द्रोहं सर्वत्र कुरुते न शान्तिमधिगच्छति
Having acquired faith of the tamasic kind, he brings about the loss of wealth; he acts with hostility everywhere and does not attain peace.
जित्वा सत्त्वं रजश्चैव क्रोधनो दुर्मतिः शठः । वर्तते कामचारेण भावेषु विततेषु च
Having subdued sattva and rajas, he, being angry, of poor intellect, and deceitful, acts according to desire in various states.
एकं सत्त्वं न भवति रजश्चैकं तमस्तथा । सहैवाश्रित्य वर्तन्ते गुणा मिथुनधर्मिणः
There is never only one: neither sattva alone, nor rajas alone, nor tamas alone; the qualities always act together, possessing a dual nature.
रजो विना न सत्त्वं स्याद्रजः सत्त्वं विना क्वचित् । तमो विना न चैवैते वर्तन्ते पुरुषर्षभ
Without rajas, sattva does not exist; and rajas never exists without sattva; without tamas, neither of these are found, O best among men.
तमस्ताभ्यां विहीनं तु केवलं न कदाचन । सर्वे मिथुनधर्माणो गुणाः कार्यान्तरेषु वै
Tamas, devoid of the other two, is never found alone; all the qualities are of dual nature in their various functions.
अन्योन्यसंश्रिताः सर्वे तिष्ठन्ति न वियोजिताः । अन्योन्यजनकाश्चैव यतः प्रसवधर्मिणः
All exist mutually dependent, never separated; and each generates the other, for they are of the nature of production.
सत्त्वं कदाचिच्च रजस्तमसी जनयत्युत । कदाचित्तु रजः सत्त्वतमसी जनयत्यपि
Sometimes sattva produces rajas and tamas; sometimes rajas produces sattva and tamas as well.
कदाचित्तु तमः सत्त्वरजसी जनयत्युभे । जनयन्त्येवमन्योन्यं मृत्पिण्डश्च घटं यथा
Sometimes tamas produces both sattva and rajas; thus they generate each other, just as a lump of clay produces a pot.