18.31 yayA dharmam adharmam cha

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 18

<< Chapter 18 Verse 30

SlOkam – Original

yayA dharmam adharmam cha kAryam chAkAryam Eva cha |
ayathAvath prajAnAthi budhdhi: sA pArtha rAjasI ||

word-by-word meaning

pArtha – Oh son of kunthI!
yayA – with the knowledge
dharmam adharmam cha – dharma (righteous act) and adharmam (unrighteous act)
kAryam akAryam Eva cha – and do’s and don’ts
ayathAvath prajAnAthi – one conceives erroneously
sA budhdhi: – that knowledge
rAjasI – is caused by rajO guNam

Simple Translation

Oh pArtha! The knowledge with which one conceives erroneously dharma (righteous act) and adharmam (unrighteous act), and do’s and don’ts, such knowledge is caused by rajO guNam.

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘That is Rājasa-reason, Pārtha! which erroneously conceives Dharma and Adharma, duty and non-duty.’

That is Rājasa-Reason, which rightly discerns not between the two kinds of Dharma above mentioned (i.e., pravṛitti and nivṛitti), and their opposites, Adharma; and which rightly discerns not what a person ought and ought not to do according to time, place, and circumstance.

>> Chapter 18 Verse 32

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