Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 12
लोभः प्रवृत्तिरारम्भः कर्मणामशमः स्पृहा।रजस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे भरतर्षभ।।
lobhaḥ pravṛttir ārambhaḥ karmaṇām aśamaḥ spṛhā
rajasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe bharatarṣabha
also searched as "lobhah pravrittir arambhah karmanam ashamah spriha"
Translation
Greed, activity, undertaking of work, restlessness, and longing—these arise, O Arjuna, when Rajas predominates.
Vāṇi's rendering
Greed, busyness, scheme after scheme, no rest, endless wanting — these sprout when restlessness has the upper hand.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| लोभःlobhaḥ | greed |
| प्रवृत्तिःpravṛttiḥ | outward activity, ceaseless doing (sandhi: pravṛttir before ā) |
| आरम्भःārambhaḥ | starting things, launching new ventures |
| कर्मणाम्karmaṇām | of actions, of undertakings |
| अशमःaśamaḥ | no rest, unquiet |
| स्पृहाspṛhā | longing, wanting more |
| रजसिrajasi | when rajas, restless energy, is present (sandhi: rajasy before e) |
| एतानिetāni | these |
| जायन्तेjāyante | are born, sprout up |
| विवृद्धेvivṛddhe | when it has swelled, grown dominant |
| भरतर्षभbharata-ṛṣabha | bull among the Bharatas — Krishna's address to Arjuna |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 12 mean?
Krishna lists what rajas looks like when it dominates: greed, constant activity, new projects begun one after another, unquiet, and longing. He names symptoms, not sins. The point is recognition — you are meant to read the list and find yourself in it, before the condition names itself as ambition and passes unexamined.
What does lobhah pravrittir arambhah karmanam ashamah spriha mean?
Greed, outgoing activity, the launching of undertakings, restlessness, and craving. Five words for one inner weather. Krishna tells Arjuna these sprout when rajas has swelled — vivṛddhe. They arrive together, feed each other, and rarely announce themselves as trouble. They feel like drive.
Is activity itself wrong according to the Gita?
No. Krishna commands action throughout the Gītā. What he marks here is action driven by aśamā — doing that cannot stop, that finds no rest in completion. The difference is not how much you do but whether finishing brings quiet or only the next hunger.
How do I know if rajas is dominant in me?
By the absence of rest, not the presence of work. If every completed thing immediately produces another, if stillness feels like waste, if wanting has no floor — rajas has the upper hand. Krishna gives Arjuna the signs precisely because the state does not feel like a problem from inside it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count them: greed, busyness, one scheme after another, no rest, wanting. Not five faults — one condition wearing five faces. Rajas does not feel like a flaw from inside; it feels like ambition, like being useful, like finally getting somewhere. That is why Krishna gives Arjuna the symptoms rather than the name. You will not catch restlessness by looking for restlessness. You catch it by noticing that the list of things to do keeps growing, and that finishing one gives you no rest, only the next. Vivṛddhe — when it has swelled. Ask what your busyness is for tonight, and wait for the honest answer.