Word meanings
- adharmam
- irreligion
- dharmam
- religion
- iti
- thus
- yā
- which
- manyate
- imagines
- tamasa-āvṛtā
- shrouded in darkness
- sarva-arthān
- all things
- viparītān
- opposite
- ca
- and
- buddhiḥ
- intellect
- sā
- that
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- tāmasī
- of the nature of ignorance
Translations
That intellect, O Arjuna, which is enveloped in darkness and sees Adharma as Dharma and all things perverted, is Tamasic (dark).
And that which, shrouded in Ignorance, thinks wrong to be right, and sees everything perversely, O Arjuna, that intellect is ruled by Darkness.
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.
हे पृथानन्दन ! तमोगुणसे घिरी हुई जो बुद्धि अधर्मको धर्म और सम्पूर्ण चीजोंको उलटा मान लेती है, वह तामसी है।Commentary
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.