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Adhyāyas / Mokṣa-Sannyāsa Yogaḥ / verse 32

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering
अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसाऽऽवृता। सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी
adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛitā sarvārthān viparītānśh cha buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
Anuṣṭubh(!!) irregular in source

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

O Partha, that intellect is born of tamas which, being covered by darkness, considers vice as virtue, and indeed perceives all things contrary to what they are.

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

हे पार्थ ! तमस् (अज्ञान अन्ध:कार) से आवृत जो बुद्धि अधर्म को ही धर्म मानती है और सभी पदार्थों को विपरीत रूप से जानती है, वह बुद्धि तामसी है।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii
अधर्मन् धर्म मिति या (!!)
मन्यते तमसा वृता
सर्वार् थान् विप रीतांश् च
बुद् धिस् सा पार्थ तामसी
॥ ३२ ॥
Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha
adharmamirreligion
dharmamreligion
itithus
which
manyateimagines
tamasa-āvṛitāshrouded in darkness
sarva-arthānall things
viparītānopposite
chaand
buddhiḥintellect
that
pārthaArjun, the son of Pritha
tāmasīof the nature of ignorance

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA
18.29–18.40Intellect, firmness and happiness, each threefold.

K completes the great analysis by running buddhi (intellect/judgment), dhṛti (firmness/resolve) and sukha (happiness) through the three strands. Intellect (18.30–32): sattvic buddhi knows rightly what to do and not do, what to fear and not fear, bondage and liberation; rajasic buddhi confuses right and wrong, dharma and adharma; tamasic buddhi, wrapped in darkness, takes adharma to be dharma and sees everything upside-down. Firmness (18.33–35): sattvic dhṛti is the unwavering steadiness that holds mind, breath and senses in Yoga; rajasic dhṛti clings, with attachment, to duty, pleasure and wealth, craving their fruit; tamasic dhṛti is the stubbornness that will not let go of sleep, fear, grief, despair and conceit. Happiness (18.36–39): sattvic sukha is “like poison at first and nectar in the end”, born of the serenity of Self-knowledge — hard at the outset, blissful at maturity; rajasic sukha is “nectar at first, poison in the end”, born of the contact of sense and object; tamasic sukha, deluding from beginning to end, springs from sleep, sloth and heedlessness. This last triad is a jewel of practical wisdom: the worthwhile joys cost effort up front and reward later (the discipline of 6.16); the cheap joys reward instantly and cost dearly after; the worthless ones are pleasant only to a dulled mind. By this test alone one can sort one’s own pleasures.