Those ruled by virtue gradually ascend to the upper planets.

Passion know it, consists of thirst, longing and endless desires. It borders the embodied soul which it dominates with material action and its fruits. It attaches the being to the fruits of its acts. When passion grows, then with it do the signs of great attachment, of uncontrollable desires, of fiery aspiration and of intense effort. Whoever dies under passion is reborn among human beings, who dedicate themselves to self-interested action. Under the influence of passion deeds cause distress, and from passion is born greed.

Those dominated by passion remain on the middle planets, terrestrial.

Ignorance, know that it causes the bewilderment of all beings. This guna causes madness, indolence and sleep, which enchains the embodied soul. It attaches the being to madness. When ignorance rises, then darkness, inertia, insanity and delusion are born. He who dies of ignorance is reborn in the world of beasts. Under the influence of ignorance, actions lead to foolishness. From ignorance is born madness, foolishness and delusion.

Those enveloped in ignorance go mad. Because their situation throws them into distress, they take refuge in intoxicants, and thus sink further into ignorance. Very dark is their future. They fall into the infernal worlds.

Sometimes dominating virtue and ignorance, passion wins, and sometimes virtue overcomes passion and ignorance. Still other times, ignorance in turn overthrows virtue and passion. Thus, never between the gunas does not cease the struggle for reign.

When one sees, in any act, that nothing escapes the three gunas, but that I, the Supreme Lord, transcend them, then one can know My nature spiritual. When the incarnate being is able to go beyond the three gunas, he frees himself from birth, death, old age, as well as the sufferings that they engender. He can therefore enjoy ambrosia, in this very life.

Souls conditioned by material nature engage in activities which lead them to put on various kinds of bodies over the course of their successive lives. In the material universe, these souls are thus entitled to various punishments and rewards. Their meritorious deeds can elevate them to the higher planets, where they can join the ranks of the many celestial beings. On the contrary, their reprehensible acts can precipitate them towards different infernal planets where they suffer more the torments of material life.

Formerly, kings punished criminals by plunging them into a river, then bringing them to the surface for a puff of air, after which they plunged them again underwater. Material nature rewards or punishes beings in an analogous way, by plunging them into the waters of suffering or by extirpating them for a time. The rise to the higher planets (Edenic, paradisiacal) or to a higher standard of life is never permanent, it is