Verse 18.22
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
यत्तु कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन्कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम् | अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ||२२||
Transliteration (IAST)
yat tu kṛtsnavad ekasmin kārye saktam ahaitukam | atattvārthavad alpaṁ ca tat tāmasam udāhṛtam ||22||
Word-by-Word Meanings
kṛtsnavat-as if it were everything
ekasmin-in one
kārye-effect/work
saktam-attached
ahaitukam-without reason/cause
atattva-arthavat-without truth/substance
alpam-trivial/small
tāmasam-in the mode of ignorance
Translation
That knowledge which clings to one single effect as if it were the whole, which is irrational, without basis in truth, and trivial - that is declared to be tamasic.
Commentary
Tamasic knowledge is characterized by obsessive fixation on a single fragment of reality mistaken for the whole. Shankaracharya explains this as superstitious or dogmatic thinking that lacks rational foundation. Madhva notes that 'ahaitukam' (without reason) indicates beliefs held without proper inquiry, and 'alpam' (trivial) shows such knowledge has no liberating power.
Themes
jnana