कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् । रजसस् तु फलम् दुःखम् अज्ञानं तमसः फलम् ॥
karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṃ nirmalaṃ phalam | rajasas tu phalam duḥkham ajñānaṃ tamasaḥ phalam ||
The fruit of sattvic action is pure; the fruit of rajas is pain; the fruit of tamas is ignorance.
Word by word (3)
- karmaṇaḥ su-kṛtasya sāttvikaṃ nirmalam phalam āhuḥ
- — the fruit of righteous/good action (su-kṛta = well-done) is said (āhuḥ = they say, tradition declares) to be sattvic and pure (sāttvikaṃ nirmalam)
- rajasas tu phalam duḥkham
- — the fruit of rajasic (karma) is pain (duḥkha) — the inevitable result of desire-driven action
- ajñānaṃ tamasaḥ phalam
- — ignorance (ajñāna) is the fruit of tamasic karma — the accumulation of tamas deepens nescience
The fruit of righteous (sattvic) action is said to be pure and auspicious. The fruit of rajasic action is pain. The fruit of tamasic action is ignorance. Each guṇa produces a corresponding karmic result.
A modern analogy
Plant sattva seeds → harvest clarity and peace. Plant rajas seeds → harvest restlessness and eventual pain (even when the desire is fulfilled, more desire follows). Plant tamas seeds → harvest fog and confusion — you don't even know you're in darkness. Each seed grows true to its nature.
V16 gives the KARMIC FRUITS of each guṇa — connecting the psychological states (V6-V13) and rebirth patterns (V14-V15) to the moral-karmic order. The fruits are: sattva → nirmala (pure/auspicious); rajas → duḥkha (pain); tamas → ajñāna (ignorance). This is the karma-theology of the guṇas: your guṇic orientation determines both the quality of your experience and the direction of your karmic accumulation.
The saying 'āhuḥ' (they say) invokes the Vedic and smṛti tradition's consensus on karmic fruits. The symmetry is profound: sattva produces its characteristic quality outward (nirmala/pure action), rajas produces its characteristic quality inward (duḥkha/pain — rajas was pain-producing from V5 onwards), tamas produces its essential root (ajñāna — tamas IS born of ajñāna per V8, so its fruit is more ajñāna, a feedback loop).
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
The fruit of good action, they say, is Sattvic and pure; while the fruit of Rajas is pain, and ignorance is the fruit of Tamas. [1]
The fruit of good action, they say, is Sattvika and pure; verily, the fruit of Rajas is pain, and ignorance is the fruit of Tamas. [4]
The result of righteous action is said to be Sattvic, that is, pure; the result of passion is pain; the result of darkness is ignorance. [9]
The fruit of actions done in Goodness is pure; the fruit of actions done in Passion is pain; the fruit of actions done in Darkness is ignorance. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Dying in rajas, one is born among the action-attached; dying in tamas, one is born in irrational wombs.
Acting for reward is the lowest form of action. Seek the wisdom that transcends reward-seeking.
Tamas — born of ignorance — deludes all beings and binds through carelessness, laziness, and sleep.
The sāttvic tyāgī: neither hates difficult action nor clings to pleasant — sattva-pervaded, wise, doubts severed.
Tāmasic karma: begun from delusion, ignoring consequences, waste, injury to beings, and one's own capacity.
Rajas — passion, thirst, attachment — binds the embodied one specifically through attachment to action.