Bhagavad Gita 14.16
कर्मणः सुकृतस्याहुः सात्त्विकं निर्मलं फलम् । रजसस्तु फलं दुःखमज्ञानं तमसः फलम् ॥ १६ ॥
karmaṇaḥ sukṛtasyāhuḥ sāttvikaṁ nirmalaṁ phalam | rajasas tu phalaṁ duḥkham ajñānaṁ tamasaḥ phalam ||16||
Translation
The fruit of good action, they say, is sattvic and spotless; the fruit of rajas is pain, the fruit of tamas is ignorance.
Reflection
Take a recent action: what residue did it leave, lightness, pain, or fog?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Fourteen
Now the fruits. A well-done action, sukrita, leaves a sattvic residue: clean, light, untroubled. A rajasic action, even when materially successful, leaves duhkha; something hurts afterward, even if the spreadsheet shows a win. A tamasic action leaves only ajnana, more bewilderment than was present before. The verse is offering a quick post-mortem tool. After any deed, ask which residue it left. If light: probably sattvic. If pain: rajasic. If muddier than before: tamasic. The category of the action is read from its aftertaste. Most people miss this because they only look at the immediate outcome.