14-18

ऊर्ध्वम् गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्थाः मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसाः ।
जघन्य गुणवृत्तिस्थाः अधो गच्छन्ति तामसाः ॥ १८ ॥

Urdhvam gacchanti sattvasthAH madhye tiSThanti rAjasAH |
jaghanya guNavRttisthAH adho gacchanti tAmasAH || 18 ||

सत्त्वस्थाः [sattvasthAH] People who are situated in sattva ऊर्ध्वम् गच्छन्ति [Urdhvam gacchanti] ascend to eminence. राजसाः [rAjasAH] Those with a high rajas quotient मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति [madhye tiSThanti] stay mediocre. तामसाः [tAmasAH] Those in tamas जघन्य गुणवृत्तिस्थाः [jaghanya guNavRttisthAH] stay and behave in undesirable ways. अधो गच्छन्ति [adho gacchanti] They attain lower life-forms.

As described, people who are situated in sattva ascend to eminence. They are progressive and gain freedom from material bonds, achieving liberty .

The quality of rajas gives rise to avarice - people who are high on rajas covet the good life. They yearn for fame, wealth and comforts. They work to achieve those results. They are born again to experience the outcome of their work. Even in the next birth, they work similarly and get stuck in the cycle. That’s why they stay mediocre. Due to its tendency to repeat, the quality of rajas inevitably causes sorrow for the most part.

Those in tamas stay and work in undesirable ways. From one life to the next, they keep cultivating conduct that grows the quality of tamas . They progress to lower forms - being born into depression, animals, insects, worms, germs, immobile beings, plants and flowers, going on to become a blade of grass, a stone, a stick, a lump of clay and so on.

Next, the Lord describes the way in which people enrich sattva over several births. They overcome the influence of all qualities and achieve the supreme goal . They enrich sattva with the distinction of working without attachment, by the merit of being disciplined in consumption.