Bhagavad Gita 18.32अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसाऽऽवृता।सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी ॥
adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛitā
sarvārthān viparītānśh cha buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
Sanskrit recitation
Knowledge, work, and the worker · 18.29–18.40 · Teaching
Translation
That intellect, O Arjuna, which is enveloped in darkness and sees Adharma as Dharma and all things perverted, is Tamasic (dark).
Hindi translation
हे पृथानन्दन ! तमोगुणसे घिरी हुई जो बुद्धि अधर्मको धर्म और सम्पूर्ण चीजोंको उलटा मान लेती है, वह तामसी है।
Meaning
That intellect which regards righteous acts as evil, and considers right things to be false, which treats everything in a contrary sense and looks upon virtues as if they were vices and takes everything that the scriptures declare to be good as being entirely wrong, is Tamasic. It views all things in a perverted light.Thus, O Arjuna, I have explained to thee the three aspects of the intellect. Now listen to the explanation of the characteristics of the three aspects of firmness.
After Swami Sivananda
Knowledge, work, and the worker· 18.29–18.40→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 18.29Hear thou the threefold division of intellect and firmness, according to the Gunas, as I…
- 18.30The intellect which knows the path of work and renunciation, what should be done and what…
- 18.31That by which one wrongly understands dharma and adharma, and also what ought to be done…
18.32That intellect, O Arjuna, which is enveloped in darkness and sees Adharma as Dharma and…
- 18.33The unwavering firmness, through which Yoga restrains the functions of the mind,…
- 18.34But that, O Arjuna, by which one holds fast to Dharma (duty), enjoyment of pleasures, and…
- 18.35That firmness, O Arjuna, by which a stupid man does not abandon sleep, fear, grief,…
- 18.36And now, O Arjuna, hear from Me of the threefold pleasure, in which one rejoices through…
- 18.37That which is like poison at first but in the end like nectar—that happiness is declared…
- 18.38That happiness which arises from the contact of the senses with the objects, which is…
- 18.39That happiness which at first, as well as in the end, deludes the self, and which arises…
- 18.40There is no being on earth or in heaven among the gods that is liberated from the three…
Word-by-word→
- cha
- and
- iti
- thus
- sā
- that
- yā
- which
- dharmam
- religion
- manyate
- imagines
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- adharmam
- irreligion
- tāmasī
- of the nature of ignorance
- buddhiḥ
- intellect
- viparītān
- opposite
- sarva-arthān
- all things
- tamasa-āvṛitā
- shrouded in darkness
Read this when you feel
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