Bhagavad Gita · 18.28 · Yoga through the Perfection of Renunciation and Surrender·28 of 78
अयुक्तः प्राकृतः स्तब्धः शठो नैष्कृतिकोऽलसः।विषादी दीर्घसूत्री च कर्ता तामस उच्यते ॥
ayuktaḥ prākṛitaḥ stabdhaḥ śhaṭho naiṣhkṛitiko
‘lasaḥ viṣhādī dīrgha-sūtrī cha kartā tāmasa uchyate
Sanskrit recitation
What makes an action · 18.13–18.28 · Teaching
Translation
Unsteady, vulgar, inflexible, deceitful, malicious, lazy, despondent, and procrastinating—such an agent is called Tamasic.
Meaning
Owing to his vulgar nature he is not able to discriminate between proper and improper actions. His heart is filled with vanity. He will never prostrate himself before the deity or a sage. He is very stiff and unbending in his demeanour. He is the very embodiment of deceit, the abode of the passion for gambling and all such vices. He is ever ready to do evil actions. When an opportunity for his doing good occurs, he is utterly slothful and inactive, but he is very alert in doing evil.Prakritah Vulgar Quite uncultured in intellect one who is childish.Stabdhah Unbending (like a stick), not bowing down to anybody.Shathah Cheating concealing his real nature.Naishkritikah Creating quarrels and disputes among the people.Alasah Lazy Not doing even that which ought to be done.Dirghasutri Postponing duties too long always slothful not performing even in a month what ought to be done today or tomorrow.
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→
- cha
- and
- kartā
- performer
- uchyate
- is said to be
- alasaḥ
- slothful
- ayuktaḥ
- undisciplined
- stabdhaḥ
- obstinate
- tāmasaḥ
- in the mode of ignorance
- viṣhādī
- unhappy and morose
- śhaṭhaḥ
- cunning
- prākṛitaḥ
- vulgar
- dīrgha-sūtrī
- procrastinating
- naiṣhkṛitikaḥ
- dishonest or vile
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