sattva-saá¹…gÄd ṛṣīn devÄn
rajasÄsura-mÄnuá¹£Än
tamasÄ bhÅ«ta-tiryaktvaá¹
bhrÄmito yÄti karmabhiḥ
sattva-saá¹…gÄt - by association with the mode of goodness; ṛṣīn - to the sages; devÄn - to the demigods; rajasÄ - by the mode of passion; asura - to the demons; mÄnuá¹£Än - and to human beings; tamasÄ - by the mode of ignorance; bhÅ«ta - to the ghostly spirits; tiryaktvam - or the animal kingdom; bhrÄmitaḥ - made to wander; yÄti - he goes; karmabhiḥ - because of his fruitive activities.
Made to wander because of his fruitive work, the conditioned soul, by contact with the mode of goodness, takes birth among the sages or demigods. By contact with the mode of passion he becomes a demon or human being, and by association with the mode of ignorance he takes birth as a ghost or in the animal kingdom.
The word tiryaktvam means “the status of an animal,†which includes all lower forms of life, such as beasts, birds, insects, fish and plants.
