Bhagavad Gita · 18.21 · Yoga through the Perfection of Renunciation and Surrender·21 of 78
पृथक्त्वेन तु यज्ज्ञानं नानाभावान्पृथग्विधान्।वेत्ति सर्वेषु भूतेषु तज्ज्ञानं विद्धि राजसम् ॥
pṛithaktvena tu yaj jñānaṁ nānā-bhāvān
pṛithag-vidhān vetti sarveṣhu bhūteṣhu taj jñānaṁ viddhi rājasam
Sanskrit recitation
What makes an action · 18.13–18.28 · Teaching
Translation
But that knowledge which sees in all beings various entities of distinct kinds as being distinct from one another, know thou that knowledge to be Rajasic.
Meaning
Knowledge which sees As knowledge cannot be an agent, this should be interpreted to mean knowledge by which one sees.Entities Selves or souls.Different from one another Regarding them as different in different bodies.The knowledge that is led by the idea of separateness is passionate. Enveloping as it does the manifold creation with the veil of separateness, it deludes even the wise man. Owing to passionate knowledge, beings appear to be separate and the perception of unity is also lost sight of. That knowledge which beholds multiplicity in created objects and differentiates them as being small or great, according to their form and size, is of passionate nature and tainted. A man with passionate knowledge sees diversity everywhere. He beholds the many only.Now I will explain to thee, O Arjuna, knowledge that is of the quality of darkness, in order that thou mayest avoid it.
After Swami Sivananda
What makes an action· 18.13–18.28→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 18.13Learn from Me, O mighty-armed Arjuna, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya system, for the accomplishment of all actions.
- 18.14The body, the doer, the various senses, the different functions of various kinds, and the presiding deity—the fifth.
- 18.15Whatever action a person performs with their body, speech, and mind, whether right or wrong, these five are its causes.
- 18.16Now, such being the case, verily he who, owing to an untrained understanding, looks upon his Self, which is isolated, as the agent, he of perverted intelligence does not see.
- 18.17He who is free from the egoistic notion, whose intelligence is not tainted by good or evil, though he slays these people, he does not slay, nor is he bound by the action.
- 18.18Knowledge, the knowable, and the knower form the threefold impulse for action; the organ, the action, and the agent form the threefold basis of action.
- 18.19Knowledge, action, and actor are declared in the science of the Gunas (Sankhya philosophy) to be of three kinds only, according to the distinction of the Gunas. Of these, hear duly.
- 18.20That by which one sees the indestructible Reality in all beings, not separate in any of them—know that knowledge to be Sattvic.
18.21But that knowledge which sees in all beings various entities of distinct kinds as being distinct from one another, know thou that knowledge to be Rajasic.
- 18.22But that which clings to one single effect as if it were the whole, without reason, without any foundation in Truth, and is trivial—that is declared to be Tamasic.
- 18.23An action that is ordained, free from attachment, done without love or hatred, and without desire for reward is declared to be Sattvic.
- 18.24But that action which is done by one longing for the fulfillment of desires or gain with egotism or with much effort is declared to be Rajasic (passionate).
- 18.25That action which is undertaken from delusion, without regard for the consequences, loss, injury, and one's own ability, is declared to be Tamasic (dark).
- 18.26An agent who is free from attachment, non-egoistic, endowed with firmness and enthusiasm, and unaffected by success or failure, is considered to be of a Sattvic (pure) nature.
- 18.27Passionate, desiring to obtain the reward of their actions, greedy, cruel, impure, moved by joy and sorrow, such an agent is said to be Rajasic.
- 18.28Unsteady, vulgar, inflexible, deceitful, malicious, lazy, despondent, and procrastinating—such an agent is called Tamasic.
Word-by-word→
- tu
- however
- tat
- that
- yat
- which
- vetti
- consider
- viddhi
- know
- jñānam
- knowledge
- rājasam
- in the mode of passion
- sarveṣhu
- in all
- bhūteṣhu
- living entities
- pṛithaktvena
- unconnected
- nānā-bhāvān
- manifold entities
- pṛithak-vidhān
- of diversity
Related verses
- 18.13Learn from Me, O mighty-armed Arjuna, these five causes, as declared in the Sankhya…
- 18.18Knowledge, the knowable, and the knower form the threefold impulse for action; the organ,…
- 18.19Knowledge, action, and actor are declared in the science of the Gunas (Sankhya philosophy)…
- 18.20That by which one sees the indestructible Reality in all beings, not separate in any of…