(14) Darkness, heedlessness, inertness, and error, — these arise when Tamas is predominant, O descendant of Kuru.

(16) Triple is this, the gate to hell, destructive of the self: LUST, WRATH, and GREED. Therefore, these three, one should abandon.

(14) From Sattva arises wisdom, and greed from Rajas; heedlessness and error arise from Tamas, and also ignorance.

(3) The Blessed Lord said:

It is Desire, it is Wrath, born of the energy of Rajas, all-devouring, all-sinful; that, know thou, is the foe here.

(14) But, know thou Tamas to be born of unwisdom, deluding all embodied beings; by heedlessness, indolence and sloth, it binds fast, O Bharata.

(7) Along with it, a dull red light from the Preta-loka, coming side by side with the Light of Wisdom, will also shine upon thee. Act so that thou shalt not be fond of it. Abandon attachment [and] weakness [for it].

(2) When a man thinks of objects, attachment for them arises. From attachment arises desire ; from desire arises wrath.

(14) Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Bharata, while Tamas, enshrouding wisdom, attaches, on the contrary, to heedlessness.

(9) O nobly-born, along with the radiances of Wisdom, the impure illusory lights of the Six Lokas will also come to shine. If it be asked, 'What are they?' [they are] a dull white light from the devas, a dull green light from the asuras, a dull yellow light from human beings, a dull blue light from the brutes, a dull reddish light from the pretas, and a dull smoke-coloured light from Hell. These six thus will come to shine, along with the six radiances of Wisdom; whereupon, be not afraid of nor be attracted towards any, but allow thyself to rest in the non-thought condition.

(13) Desire, hatred, pleasure, pain, the aggregate, intelligence, courage; — the Kshetra has been thus briefly described with its modifications.

(24) When these sounds come one, being terrified by them, will flee before them in every direction, not caring whither one fleeth. But the way will be obstructed by three awful precipices — white, and black, and red. They will be terror-inspiring and deep, and one will feel as if one were about to fall down them. O nobly-born, they are not really precipices; they are Anger, Lust, and Stupidity.

(14) Greed, activity, the undertaking of works, unrest, desire, — these arise when Rajas is predominant, O lord of the Bharatas.

(18) That which, enveloped in darkness, sees adharma as dharma and all things perverted, that intellect, O Pârtha, is Tâmasic.

(4) Mañjuśrī replied: “To possess the body is the seed. Ignorance and thirst are the seeds. Covetousness, anger, and ignorance are the seeds. The fourfold false idea is the seed. The fivefold passion is the seed. The six Ayatanas are the seed. The sevenfold abode is the seed. The eight wicked paths are the seeds. The ninefold passion is the seed.

(12) But despite its fall, the whole earth cannot satisfy the lust of the flesh; who can do its will? To him who longs for the impossible come guilt and bafflement of desire; but he who is utterly without desire has a happiness that ages not. Then give no room for the lust of the flesh to swell; blessed indeed is the thing that is not imagined for the sake of its pleasant- ness. The body is a motionless thing stirred by something without, and ending in ashes, a loathsome frame of foulness; why do I cling to it? What have I to do with this machine, alive or dead? What distinguishes it from such things as clods of earth? Alas, O thought of self, thou wilt not die! Through complicity with the flesh I win sorrow, all to no purpose; it is no better than a thing of wood, and what should avail its hatred or its kindness? It feels no love when I guard it, no hate when vultures devour it; then why do I love it? I am angered when it is treated with scorn, delighted when it is honoured; but if it has no knowledge, to what end is my toil? My friends, forsooth, are they who wish well to this body; but all men wish well to their own flesh, and why are not they also my friends? So I have surrendered my body indifferently for the weal of the world; it is but as an instrument of work that I still bear it, with all its guilt. Enough then of worldly ways! I follow in the path of the Wise, remembering the Discourse upon Heedfulness and putting away sloth. To overcome the power of darkness I concentre my thought, drawing the spirit away from vain paths and fixing it straightly upon its stay.

(16) Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, holding unwholesome views through delusion, they work with unholy resolve;

(3) Covered, O son of Kunti, is wisdom by this constant enemy of the wise, in the form of desire, which is greedy and insatiable.

(7) From the delusion of pairs caused by desire and aversion, O Bharata, all beings are subject to illusion at birth, O harasser of thy foes.

(17) And avarice, want, pain, hunger, disease, lust, and lethargy were diffused by him abroad upon the ox and Gâyômard.