Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च ।
अयथावत्प्रजानाति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ राजसी ॥३१॥
yayā dharmam adharmaṁ ca
kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca
ayathāvat prajānāti
buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī
Word for word (synonyms)
- yayā
- by which
- dharmam
- principles of religion
- adharmam ca
- and irreligion
- kāryam
- work
- ca
- also
- akāryam
- what ought not to be done
- eva
- certainly
- ca
- also
- ayathāvat
- not perfectly
- prajānati
- knows
- buddhiḥ
- intelligence
- sā
- that
- pārtha
- O son of Pṛthā
- rājasī
- in the mode of passion
Translation
And that understanding which cannot distinguish between the religious way of life and the irreligious, between action that should be done and action that should not be done, that imperfect understanding, O son of Pṛthā, is in the mode of passion.
Purport
Intelligence in the mode of passion is always working perversely. It accepts religions which are not actually religions and rejects actual religion. All views and activities are misguided. Men of passionate intelligence understand a great soul to be a common man and accept a common man as a great soul. They think truth to be untruth and accept untruth as truth. In all activities they simply take the wrong path; therefore their intelligence is in the mode of passion.
What this verse teaches
Intelligence or understanding (buddhi) in three modes
| Goodness | Passion | Ignorance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Understanding | knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating 18.30 | cannot distinguish between the religious way of life and the irreligious, between action that should be done and action that should not be done 18.31 | considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion 18.32 |
Bhagavad-gītā As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International.