Bhagavad Gita 14.17

sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ

rajasaḥ lobha eva ca

pramāda-mohau tamaso

bhavato ’jñānam eva ca

 

From goodness springs awakened sight,

From passion grows grasping appetite;

From darkness rise delusion and night,

And ignorance veils truth from light.

 

My dear Lord, I am bound to this world first by many illusions. Second, by my ego, which believes that it is right all the time. Most insidiously, I am bound by the link between my illusions and my ego, by which I cling to my conceptions out of pride and prestige—even when my own experience falsifies them.

O merciful Lord, that toxic bond between illusion and ego is a symptom of the darkest darkness—the most ignorant and destructive form of ignorance. It is the illusion by which I vehemently and arrogantly deny, not only to the world but even to myself, that I am in illusion.

Help me at least rise to the mode of passion, where I care about the visible and tangible results of my conceptions and actions, instead of remaining in the escapist rejection of reality that characterizes ignorance. Then help me rise further to the mode of goodness, where I can see reality for what it is—how it works under your higher plan and infinite wisdom—instead of perceiving it merely in terms of whether it fulfills or frustrates my desires.

O beloved Lord, let my devotion to you be grounded in the mode of goodness. Empower me to rise still higher, to be fully and forever free from my illusions and my ego, delighting in your masterful plan as it unfolds in this world—sometimes within my comprehension and sometimes beyond it.

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14.17 From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance develop foolishness, madness and illusion.