Mūla — the verse
Gita Press numberingTranslation
Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣyaBut that (knowledge) is said to be born of tamas which is confined to one form as if it were all, which is irrational, unconcerned with truth, and trivial.
हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda
और जिस ज्ञान के द्वारा मनुष्य एक कार्य (शरीर) में ही आसक्त हो जाता है, मानो वह (कार्य ही) पूर्ण वस्तु हो तथा जो (ज्ञान) हेतुरहित (अयुक्तिक), तत्त्वार्थ से रहित तथा संकुचित (अल्प) है, वह (ज्ञान) तामस है।।
Pronunciation — Vaamshii
from VaamshiiWord by word
padārthaMeaning — Questions & Solutions
from Q&A with KnA“That knowledge by which one sees the one imperishable Being in all beings, undivided in the divided, is sattvic (18.20). That which sees only the manifold, distinct existences in the various beings, is rajasic (18.21). And that which clings, irrationally and without grasp of truth, to a single effect as though it were the whole, is tamasic (18.22).” As you rightly note: oneness-in-diversity is the sattvic knowing (the vision of 13.16, 13.27); distinction-only — seeing the many and missing the One — is rajasic; and not using the intellect at all, latching onto one narrow thing as if it were everything, is tamasic. This is the Gītā’s epistemology in miniature: the quality of one’s seeing is itself graded by the guṇas, and only the sattvic sight sees the unity that liberates.