SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
SlOkam – Original
thamas thvagyAnajam vidhdhi mOhanam sarvadhehinAm |
pramAdhAlasyanidhrAbhis than nibadhnAthi bhAratha ||
word-by-word meaning
bhAratha – Oh descendant of bharatha!
thama: thu – as for thamO guNam (quality of ignorance)
agyAna jam – caused by misunderstanding the nature of entities
sarva dhEhinAm – for all AthmAs who have bodies
mOhanam – causes knowledge which is contrary to righteousness
vidhdhi – know that
thath – that
pramAdha Alasya nidhrAbhi: – causing carelessness, lethargy and sleep
nibadhnAthi – binds the AthmA
Simple Translation
Oh descendant of bharatha! As for thamO guNam (quality of ignorance), know that it is caused by misunderstanding the nature of entities; and for all AthmAs who have bodies, it causes knowledge which is contrary to righteousness; it binds the AthmA by causing carelessness, lethargy and sleep.
Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam
‘As for Tamas, Bhārata! it begets ignorance, fascinating all embodied (beings): by listlessness does it bind (one) to sloth and sleep.’
Ajñāna=ignorance is that which is the reverse of knowledge or wisdom. Jñāna or wisdom is the accurate or right perception of things, and ignorance is perverted or wrong perception. And Tamas (lit: darkness) is the diametrically opposed or completely reversed perception of what a thing actually is.
Mohanam=that which deludes men into obtuse knowledge = Tamas.
This Tamas, being thus the root of pramāda, ālasya, and nidrā, binds (one) fast, through these.
Pramāda=listlessness=the attention being diverted from a work on hand to some other.
Ālasya=sloth = inability to engage in any occupation.
Nidrā=sleep. Owing to a disinclination on the part of the senses to function, sublation of all such activities ensue. Sublation of the external senses constitutes dream, but when the mind also sublates, it becomes sleep.
The cardinal features of satva etc., and their various impulses, through which one is fettered, is now stated:—
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