Bhagavad Gita 18.28
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 28 of 78
अयुक्तः प्राकृतः स्तब्धः शठो नैष्कृतिको ऽलसः । विषादी दीर्घसूत्री च कर्ता तामस उच्यते ॥
ayuktaḥ prākṛtaḥ stabdhaḥ śaṭho naiṣkṛtiko 'lasaḥ | viṣādī dīrgha-sūtrī ca kartā tāmasa ucyate ||
Tāmasic kartā: undisciplined, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, lazy, desponding, procrastinating.
Word by word (3)
- ayuktaḥ prākṛtaḥ stabdhaḥ śaṭho naiṣkṛtikaḥ alaḥ
- — undisciplined/unsteady (ayukta = a + yukta = unyoked/not-joined), vulgar/common/unrefined (prākṛta = of-the-common-prakṛti, crude), obstinate/arrogant/stiff (stabdha = stiff/rigid), deceitful/dishonest (śaṭha = crafty/dishonest), malicious/mischievous (naiṣkṛtika = injurious/ill-doing), lazy/indolent (alasa) — six tāmasic qualities
- viṣādī dīrgha-sūtrī ca kartā tāmasa ucyate
- — desponding/dejected (viṣādī = one with viṣāda/despondency), procrastinating (dīrgha-sūtrī = long-threader, one who draws things out), and (ca), the agent (kartā) is called (ucyate) tāmasic (tāmasa) — two more qualities making eight total
- dīrgha-sūtrī
- — long-thread-er; literally one who threads things out at great length; the tāmasic procrastinator who delays, avoids, never completes; the behavioral outcome of tamas-inertia applied to action; contrast with V26's utsāha (enthusiasm/energy)
The agent who is undisciplined, vulgar, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, lazy, desponding, and procrastinating — is called tāmasic.
A modern analogy
The tāmasic actor is the person who cannot start, cannot finish, deceives themselves and others about their intentions, becomes obstinate when challenged, and sinks into despondency when confronted with the gap between what they intended and what they did. Tamas as the guṇa of inertia and obscuration produces precisely this constellation of non-action dressed as action.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
MISSING from index. [1]
Unsteady, vulgar, arrogant, dishonest, malicious, indolent, desponding, and procrastinating, such an agent is called Tamasika. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
The agent who is void of application, without discernment, obstinate, deceitful, malicious, slothful, desponding, and procrastinating, is said to be of the quality of darkness. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Releasing ego, power, arrogance, kāma, krodha, possessions — free from mine-ness, tranquil — fit for becoming Brahman.
Free from pride, moha, attachment and desire, the dvandva-unbound, undeluded ones reach the imperishable goal.
Therefore, Brahman-knowers always begin yajña, dāna, and tapas with 'OṀ' as ordained by scripture.
Rājasic karma: done desiring pleasures or with ego-pride, involving great effort.
Rājasic kartā: passionate, fruit-desiring, greedy, cruel-natured, impure, subject to elation and sorrow.
Sitting as a neutral — unmoved by guṇas, knowing 'guṇas act' — firm, unshaken, the pure witness.
Verse 28 of 78 · back to Chapter 18