Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14, Verse 8

Chapter 14 – Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम् ।
प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत ॥

Transliteration

tamastvajñānajaṃ viddhi mohanaṃ sarvadehinām .
pramādālasyanidrābhistannibadhnāti bhārata ॥

Meaning

But know tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings. O Bharata, it binds through heedlessness, laziness and sleep.

Word meanings

तमः – tamas
तु – but
अज्ञानजम् – born of ignorance
विद्धि – know
मोहनम् – deluding
सर्वदेहिनाम् – of all embodied beings
प्रमाद – heedlessness, negligence
आलस्य – laziness, sloth
निद्राभिः – by sleep (and the like)
तत् – it
निबध्नाति – binds fast
भारत – O descendant of Bharata

Anvaya (word order)

भारत, तमः तु अज्ञानजं सर्वदेहिनां मोहनं विद्धि; तत् प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिः निबध्नाति ।

Explanation

Krishna now describes the third guna, tamas. The word tu, 'but', sets tamas apart from the other two: sattva gives light and rajas gives movement, but tamas covers both. It is called ajnana-ja, 'born of ignorance'. Where there is no discernment, tamas thrives, and the more tamas grows, the deeper the ignorance becomes.

It is mohanam sarva-dehinam, 'deluding all embodied beings'. Delusion here means the inability to see clearly what is right and wrong, lasting and fleeting, duty and non-duty. A tamasic person cannot see even his own good and harm; he sees things not as they are but in a distorted, often inverted way.

Tamas binds by three means. The first is pramada, heedlessness: forgetting or postponing what ought to be done, and drifting into what ought not to be done. The second is alasya, laziness: a reluctance to make effort, heaviness of body and mind, the habit of 'I'll do it later'. The third is nidra, sleep: sleeping far beyond need and, more broadly, living in a state of mental dullness and unawareness.

Rajas at least moves a person to act, while tamas sinks him into inertia. That is why spiritual growth usually proceeds in stages: first overcoming tamas through rajas, by giving up sloth for effort; then refining rajas into sattva; and finally rising beyond sattva itself.

The verse is strikingly relevant today. Hours lost aimlessly, important tasks endlessly postponed, escape into intoxicants or endless entertainment are all modern faces of tamas.

Context

Verses 6 and 7 described the bonds of sattva and rajas; this verse completes the picture with the bond of tamas. The next verse summarises in brief what each of the three gunas does.

Life lesson

Heedlessness, laziness and excessive sleep quietly drain life of its energy. Staying alert, rising on time and refusing to postpone duty are the first steps out of tamas.

Key terms

Ajnana-ja: Born of ignorance
Mohana: That which deludes by veiling discernment
Pramada: Heedlessness, neglect of duty
Alasya: Laziness, unwillingness to make effort