Verse 14.8
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम् | प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत ||८||
Transliteration (IAST)
tamas tv ajñāna-jaṁ viddhi mohanaṁ sarva-dehinām | pramāda-ālasya-nidrābhis tan nibadhnāti bhārata ||8||
Word-by-Word Meanings
tamaḥ-the mode of darkness
ajñāna-jam-born of ignorance
mohanam-deluding
sarva-dehinām-of all embodied beings
pramāda-negligence/heedlessness
ālasya-laziness
nidrābhiḥ-by sleep
Translation
But know Tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all embodied beings. It binds through negligence, laziness, and sleep, O Bharata.
Commentary
Shankaracharya explains that Tamas is the most dangerous guna as it obscures discrimination itself. While Sattva binds through pleasure and Rajas through activity, Tamas binds through inertia and delusion - the soul cannot even recognize its bondage. Madhva notes that Tamas leads to wrong knowledge (viparīta-jñāna) and complete spiritual blindness.
Themes
jnanamoksha