Speaker: Śrī Kṛṣṇa
अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसावृता ।
सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी ॥३२॥
adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā
manyate tamasāvṛtā
sarvārthān viparītāṁś ca
buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
Word for word (synonyms)
- adharmam
- irreligion
- dharmam
- religion
- iti
- thus
- yā
- which
- manyate
- thinks
- tamasā
- by illusion
- āvṛtā
- covered
- sarva-arthān
- all things
- viparītān
- the wrong direction
- ca
- also
- buddhiḥ
- intelligence
- sa
- that
- pārtha
- O son of Pṛthā
- tāmasī
- the mode of ignorance
Translation
That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Pārtha, is in the mode of ignorance.
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.