Srimad Bhagavad-Gita : Chapter-18, Slokam - 32.

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Tuesday, August 16. 2022. 06:30. 

Chapter-18.  Moksha-sannyasa-yogam.

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Slokam-32 :

"Adharmam   dharmamiti   ya   manyate   tamassvrta,

sarvarthan   viparitamsca   buddhih   sa   partha   tamasi."

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Translation :

partha!  =  Arjuna!

ya   tamasa  avrta  =  which  buddhi  is  covered  by  tamasam  ( ignorance,  illusion,  ..... );

adharmam   dharmam  iti   =  perceives  (  assume, think, ...)  adharmam  as  dharmam;

sarvarthan   viparitan  ca  =  and  all  things  in  the  wrong  opposite  direction;

manyate   =  thinks;

sa   buddhih   tamasi  =  that  buddhi  is  said  to  be  tamasic  buddhi.

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BG 18.32: 

"That intellect which is shrouded in darkness, imagining irreligion to be religion, and perceiving untruth to be the truth, is of the nature of ignorance, O Parth."

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Commentary :

Now the influence on buddhi or intellect of one situated in tama guna or mode of ignorance is described by Lord Krishna.

That intellect which is enveloped in ignorance and warped by distortion.

Which considers the highest reality as an insignificant entity.

Who understands the Supreme absolute truth to be lower than an abstract, impersonal conception.

That considers the conditioned jiva to be erqual to the Supreme Lord.

To imagine the Supreme Lord who ioverflowing with all divine qualities, attributes and potencies to be on the same platform as all other gods.

Who negate the eternal and imperishable Vedic scriptures for some impermanent, temporal religious texts applicable for limited time.

Who cannot tell what is real in this world and who thinks what is unreal is real.

Who are unable to fathom that the Supreme Lord in one with and different from His creation simulataneously.

Such a one is unavoidably situated in tama guna.

Now Lord Krishna states that the buddhi or intellect of those in tama guna or mode of ignorance are enveloped in the darkness of consciousness.

What they perceive is a distortion of reality.

They think what is worthy is worthless and what is worthless is worthy, what is fact is fiction and what is fiction is fact what is inferior is superior and what is superior they consider inferior.

They are easily led astray having no grasp of truth and no scope for what is real and what is unreal and thus endlessly they revolve in samsara the perpetual cycle of birth and death..

Lord Krishna asserts that those whose buddhi or intellect is situated in tama guna or mode of ignorance are enveloped in darkness with a mentality whose understanding is distorted.

They are unable to discriminate between what is real and what is false.

What is to be done and what should not be done.

Embracing inferior conceptions that are devoid of actual knowledge.

They desire what ought to be rejected and reject what ought to be desired hence their delusion increases.

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Conclusion :

The tāmasic intellect is without the illumination of sublime knowledge. Hence, it misconstrues adharma to be dharma. For example, a drunk is attached to the inebriation that drinking alcohol provides. Hence, his poor intellect, covered with the fog of darkness, cannot even perceive the sheer ruin that he brings onto himself, and he does not even mind selling his property to get his next bottle. In the tāmasic intellect, the faculty of judgment and the ability for logical reasoning become lost.

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To be continued  ...

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