लोभः प्रवृत्तिर् आरम्भः कर्मणाम् अशमः स्पृहा । रजस्य् एतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ ॥
lobhaḥ pravṛttir ārambhaḥ karmaṇām aśamaḥ spṛhā | rajasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha ||
Greed, restless activity, and longing surge — know that rajas is predominant and karma-saṅga is binding.
Word by word (3)
- lobhaḥ pravṛttiḥ ārambhaḥ karmaṇām
- — greed (lobha), restless activity/tendency (pravṛtti), undertaking/initiating of actions (ārambha karmaṇām = beginning of works)
- aśamaḥ spṛhā
- — unrest/lack of stillness (aśama = not śānta/quiet), longing/desire (spṛhā = craving for objects)
- rajasi vivṛddhe etāni jāyante bharatarṣabha
- — these arise when rajas is predominant (vivṛddhe = grown/expanded) — O bull of the Bharatas (bharatarṣabha = Arjuna)
When rajas is predominant, these arise: greed (lobha), restless activity (pravṛtti), compulsive initiating of actions (ārambha), unrest (aśama), and longing (spṛhā). These five are the signature of a rajas-dominated mind.
A modern analogy
The rajasic mind is like a phone with too many tabs open — notifications, ambitions, projects, desires all running simultaneously. There's always something to check, improve, acquire, achieve. Rajas is recognizable by this constant hum of incompleteness.
V12 gives five specific psychological signs of rajas dominance. Each can serve as a self-diagnostic: if you notice lobha (wanting more), aśama (inability to be still), or compulsive ārambha (starting projects driven by excitement), rajas has gained the upper hand. Recognizing this is the first step — the practice is then to cultivate sattva through right food, right company, meditation, and karma-yoga.
The five signs are a causal chain: spṛhā (longing) → lobha (greed, which intensifies the longing) → pravṛtti (the activity generated by desire) → ārambha (action-initiation, the outward manifestation) → aśama (the restlessness that results because more desire is generated by partial fulfillment). This is the rajasic loop — each state feeds the next.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Greed, activity, the undertaking of works, unrest, desire — these arise when Rajas is predominant, O lord of the Bharatas. [1]
Greed, activity, the undertaking of actions, unrest, longing — these arise when Rajas is predominant, O bull of the Bharatas. [4]
And when passion increases, O best of Bharatas, then come greed, activity, commencement of works, unrest, and desire. [9]
When Passion is predominant, O bull of the Bharatas, avarice (lobha), enterprise (pravṛtti), the commencement of actions (ārambha), unrest (aśama), and longing (spṛhā) arise. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Hear My definitive word on tyāga, O best of Bharatas — tyāga has been declared three-fold, O tiger among men.
Rajas — passion, thirst, attachment — binds the embodied one specifically through attachment to action.
Tāmasic kartā: undisciplined, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, lazy, desponding, procrastinating.
When the completely controlled mind rests serenely in the Self alone, free from all desire-pull — that is called yoga.
Abandon all desires born of mental planning — without remainder — and restrain the senses completely, by the mind alone.
Sannyāsa = abandoning desire-motivated action; tyāga = abandoning fruits of ALL action — say the learned.