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TEXT 18 urdhvam gacchanti sattva-stha
SYNONYMS  urdhvam--upwards;
gacchanti--go; sattva-sthah--one who is situated in the mode
of goodness; madhye--in the middle; tisthanti--dwell; rajasah--those
who are situated in the mode of passion; jaghanya--abominable; guna--quality;
vrtti-sthah--occupation; adhah--down; gacchanti--go;
tamasah--people in the mode of ignorance.
TRANSLATION Those situated
in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those
in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the mode
of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds.
PURPORT In this verse
the results of actions in the three modes of nature are more explicitly
set forth. There is an upper planetary system, consisting of the heavenly
planets, where everyone is highly elevated. According to the degree of
development of the mode of goodness, the living entity can be transferred
to various planets in this system. The highest planet is Satyaloka, or
Brahmaloka, where the prime person of this universe, Lord Brahma, resides.
We have seen already that we can hardly calculate the wondrous condition
of life in Brahmaloka, but the highest condition of life, the mode of goodness,
can bring us to this.
The mode
of passion is mixed. It is in the middle, between the modes of goodness
and ignorance. A person is not always pure, but even if he should be purely
in the mode of passion, he will simply remain on this earth as a king or
a rich man. But because there are mixtures, one can also go down. People
on this earth, in the modes of passion or ignorance, cannot forcibly approach
the higher planets by machine. In the mode of passion, there is also the
chance of becoming mad in the next life.
The lowest
quality, the mode of ignorance, is described here as abominable. The result
of developing ignorance is very, very risky. It is the lowest quality in
material nature. Beneath the human level there are eight million species
of life: birds, beasts, reptiles, trees, etc., and, according to the development
of the mode of ignorance, people are brought down to these abominable conditions.
The word tamasah is very significant here. Tamasah indicates
those who stay continually in the mode of ignorance without rising to a
higher mode. Their future is very dark.
There is
opportunity for men in the modes of ignorance and passion to be elevated
to the mode of goodness, and that system is called Krsna consciousness.
But one who does not take advantage of this opportunity certainly will
continue in the lower modes.
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