📿 Shloka Collection

Lobhah Pravrittir Arambhah

Gita 14.12 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 14 — Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga
लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा ।
रजस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ ॥
Lobhah pravrittir arambhah karmanam ashamah spriha
Rajasy etani jayante vivruddhe Bharatarshabha
लोभः
greed
प्रवृत्तिः
activity / drive
आरम्भः
starting new undertakings
कर्मणाम्
of actions
अशमः
restlessness / lack of peace
स्पृहा
longing / desire
रजसि
when rajas
एतानि
all these
जायन्ते
arise
विवृद्धे
is predominant
भरतर्षभ
O best of the Bharatas

When rajas takes the wheel, the symptoms are unmistakable. Greed flares up. The drive to do, do, do intensifies. New projects get started before old ones finish. Inner restlessness makes sitting still feel impossible. And behind it all, a persistent longing: "more, more, more."

Think of a market on a festival day. Noise everywhere, people rushing in every direction, vendors calling out, bargains being struck. Exciting, energetic, but exhausting. That frenzy is what rajas feels like from the inside. The person caught in it is immensely active, but contentment remains always one step out of reach.

Rajas-dominant people accomplish a great deal. They build businesses, run households, drive progress. The cost, however, is inner peace. The engine never stops, and the driver never rests.

The previous shloka identified sattva's signs: light and clarity. This shloka identifies rajas through greed, restlessness, and compulsive activity. The next shloka will complete the set with the signs of tamas.

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