BG 18.22 — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 18.22Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

यत्तु कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन् कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम् ।

अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत् तामसमुदाहृतम् ॥

yattu kṛtsnavadekasmin kārye saktamahaitukam

atattvārthavadalpaṃ ca tat tāmasamudāhṛtam

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

Knowledge is tamasic when it clings to one narrow thing as if that fragment were the whole of reality, offers no rational ground for doing so, misses the truth of what is, and yields only petty fruit.

ekras · bhāṣya

Yat tu — but what — saktam — clings — kritsna-vat — as if it were the whole — ekasmin karye — to one product. Ahaitukam — without rational ground. Atattva-artha-vat — without holding to truth. Alpam — petty. Tat tamasam udahritam — that is declared tamasika.

Krishna names tamasika cognition with four marks: clinging to one product as if total; without rational warrant; missing the truth; petty in scope.

Shankara reads tamasika jnana as clinging to a single product — a body or an idol — as though it were the complete totality, without rational warrant. The error of those who, like naked Digambara materialists, shrink atman to body-dimensions, or who like idol-worshippers reduce Ishvara to stone or wood. Such jnana is not grounded in ultimate reality — atattva-artha-vat — and remains alpa, petty, in scope. The chapter's diagnostic of the lowest cognition-mode is precise.

Madhusudana anchors the tamas diagnosis in concrete philosophical opponents: the Digambaras who posit an atman exactly the size of the body; the Charvakas who identify the body itself as atman; idol-worshippers who reduce Ishvara to stone or wood. All share the same structural error: they seize one karya among many and treat it as the complete whole. The verse's four-fold critique is operational across these schools simultaneously.

Ramanuja reads tamasika jnana as that which becomes wholly fixated on a single trivial rite — preta-bhuta-gana-aradhana — among the many obligatory duties, treating its meager fruit as though it were complete fruit, without doctrinal justification for that fixation. It is not grounded in tattva-artha. The bhakti-frame: the bhakta who fixates on minor deities while ignoring Bhagavan's primary worship has fallen into tamasika cognition.

Madhva reads on the bheda-frame: tamasika jnana seizes one karya as if kritsna. The collapse is ahaituka — without valid causal ground — for it lacks the pramana that would establish the seized item as actually whole. The bheda-frame's diagnostic: misseeing a paratantra-fragment as the totality is the deepest cognitive failure; only Hari is the totality, and only the bhakta correctly oriented sees this.

Vallabha reads tamasika jnana as clinging to a single karya — preta-bhuta-gana-aradhana whose fruit is utterly petty — treating it as kritsna-phala-vat and without prayojana. It is wholly devoid of the recognition that every act, to bear real fruit, must be Krishna-oriented. The pushti-marga reading: when prasada is absent, even cognition shrinks to its smallest object and treats that as the whole.

Shridhara reads tamasika jnana as that which fastens upon a single object — body or image — with the conviction 'this alone is atman or Ishvara' — etavan eva atma Ishvarah va — as though that fragment were the complete whole. It is without valid reasoning — nirupapattikam — devoid of any hold on ultimate reality, and alpa in its operative reach. The chapter's three jnana-modes are now mapped: sattvika as unity-vision, rajasika as multiplicity-stuckness, tamasika as fragment-totalizing.

Context

where

Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 18.21

Knowledge that sees each creature as a separately-natured self, missing the single reality that holds them all, is rajasic.

What's going on

Sūtras through this verse (113)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

13.1Two niṣṭhās, three kāṇḍas — keystone.───→here18.22───→18.78Sealed: the means stands on the end stands.

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actbetween

15.7The self wears body as a costume.───→here18.22───→18.46Worship the One through your own work.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

15.15I sit in every heart.───→here18.22───→18.46The cluster is recalled.

show all 113

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

12.20Mat-paramāḥ as upasaṃhāra───→here18.22───→18.66Take refuge in Me alone

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

16.1The dispositions decide who can even begin.───→here18.22───→18.55Even hearing and reflecting need purity.

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

12.20Holding-Me-supreme seals the bhakti chapter.───→here18.22───→18.66Drop every duty; take refuge in Me alone.

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesbetween

15.1Krishna is the ground, not a partner-god.───→here18.22───→18.55Bhakti is the engine of the highest knowing.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

15.20The closing verse names Krishna as the supreme.───→here18.22───→18.78Vyāsa, Śaṅkara, and I: one lineage named.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

15.1Chapter fifteen unfolds what fourteen sealed.───→here18.22───→18.66Final refuge in Me is final refuge in the ground.

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runbetween

16.1The divine wealth becomes stable knowing in life.───→here18.22───→18.55Knowing burns ignorance; body burns its arc.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.───→here18.22───→18.73Confusion gone, memory gained — the cure complete.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsexit

18.1Three kinds of renouncing, one for each grade.───→here18.22───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherexit

18.1At the very end, the line still holds.───→here18.22───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicexit

18.1Even renouncing splits into three by disposition.───→here18.22───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

15.20Whole teaching named guhyatamaṃ śāstram.───→here18.22───→18.78Colophon: three kāṇḍas, one śāstra.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

12.12Bhakti's gradient is jijñāsu-relative.───→here18.22───→18.66Arjuna lacks formal saṃnyāsa-fitness.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

13.1Boundary protected by stylized doubt.───→here18.22───→18.66Closing verse opened by doubt-and-answer.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelbetween

12.20Closing the bhakti hexad on jñāna.───→here18.22───→18.66Surrender read inside the niṣṭhā-dvaya frame.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

15.20Whole śāstra named most-secret-teaching.───→here18.22───→18.66Final word read as the last upasaṃhāra.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

16.5Mā śucaḥ already once before — same shape.───→here18.22───→18.46Worship-by-own-action fixes the ārādhya.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

12.7I lift them out of saṃsāra's ocean.───→here18.22───→18.66The phala-vilamba grief is what 18.66 closes.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

15.17The Highest Person: disambiguation summit.───→here18.22───→18.46Worship by one's work reaches the indweller.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionbetween

9.33So much more — the sociological span widens.───→here18.22───→18.66The 'sarva' includes 9.32's whole span.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

13.3Knower and field: the boundary is sharp.───→here18.22───→18.66Counterfeit reasonings named, then rejected.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.47The mad-gatena yogi: the carama-form here.───→here18.22───→18.66The carama-śloka extracts what's common.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

16.5Daivī-asuric grief closed mid-text.───→here18.22───→18.66Final mā-śucaḥ closes the long-path grief.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

17.4The mode of worship reveals the worshipper.───→here18.22───→18.46Karma-yoga's act IS indweller-worship.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.───→here18.22───→18.74The frame closes: 'I heard this dialogue.'

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

6.24Renounce every desire born of will.───→here18.22───→18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

4.13The four orders are His own creation.───→here18.22───→18.41Each order's work is born of its nature.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

12.6Surrender every act, and He lifts you out.───→here18.22───→18.62Take refuge whole; grace is the road.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

14.24Past the modes, equal in praise and blame.───→here18.22───→18.54The goal is just sameness toward all.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

12.12Even devotion holds its own gradient.───→here18.22───→18.66Devotion's flagship, and the closing door.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.───→here18.22───→18.61He turns all beings mounted on a machine.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here18.22───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsexit

18.1Final chapter compresses seed and answer.───→here18.22───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyexit

18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.───→here18.22───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateexit

17.2Threefold faith: tagged at this site.───→here18.22───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiexit

18.1Tyāga = renouncing the relationship.───→here18.22───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstexit

18.1Final chapter opens with the same form.───→here18.22───→

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionexit

18.1Tyāga-question resolves ch. 16-17's typology.───→here18.22───→

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)exit

18.1Renouncing means cutting the false relationship.───→here18.22───→

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workexit

18.19Knowledge, action, doer, each one threefold.───→here18.22───→

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsexit

17.5Hard penance off-script is still demonic.───→here18.22───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

5.12Peace of the released───→here18.22───→18.46Work as worship

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

9.22Yogakshema───→here18.22───→18.66Take refuge

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

12.13Dear-bhakta description begins───→here18.22───→18.66Take refuge in Me alone

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

15.5Free of pride and delusion───→here18.22───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionbetween · v2

3.25Wise act as the unwise act───→here18.22───→18.41Duties divided by guṇa

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

18.14Five causes of action───→here18.22───→18.23Sattvic action

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

18.16Wrong-seer fails the act───→here18.22───→18.61Lord at the heart, beings spinning

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessbetween · other

16.3Tejas, kṣamā, dhṛti───→here18.22───→18.42Brahmaṇa's kṣamā

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here18.22───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseasebetween

4.42Cut the heart's doubt with the sword of knowledge.───→here18.22───→18.66Grieve not — I free you from every sin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

6.1The fire-keeper is renouncer only in a soft sense.───→here18.22───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.───→here18.22───→18.66The combined-path view named and dismantled.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.───→here18.22───→18.41Each order's work is born of its own nature.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemybetween

13.2One Self lights every body as one sun lights all.───→here18.22───→18.66Beginningless habit ends only with self-knowledge.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personbetween

12.20Living this teaching itself is the highest devotion.───→here18.22───→18.55Knowledge-standing IS the highest devotion.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

15.1The world-tree is the tree of the Kaṭha.───→here18.22───→18.66Renounce all dharmas — śruti ratifies.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedbetween

13.34One Self, untouched, in every body.───→here18.22───→18.49Action-freedom is standing in immediate liberation.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

11.1Arjuna confirms the bracket from inside.───→here18.22───→18.66The teaching closes with one command.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

11.55Five clauses, one shelter: mat-karma-kṛt.───→here18.22───→18.46Worship by your own work.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

12.7I lift them across.───→here18.22───→18.65Recollection like sight: the final command.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerbetween

13.2Those who posit ajñāna in Brahman fail.───→here18.22───→18.61The yantrin reading forecloses the residue.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

15.4Find the Origin and take refuge in him.───→here18.22───→18.62Take refuge whole-being.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

13.2The whole vibhūti clinches sāmānādhikaraṇya.───→here18.22───→18.42Even brāhmaṇa grounded here.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

12.7I lift him across.───→here18.22───→18.65You are dear to Me — I promise.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

12.5The personal route is easier — by design.───→here18.22───→18.66Drop every refuge, take the One refuge.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

15.15The Veda's whole knowable is named as Hari.───→here18.22───→18.66The closing verdict is sealed by its own authority.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

17.14'Worship of gods' is worship of the One.───→here18.22───→18.65'Me' at the end carries fifteen chapters of gloss.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlybetween

12.20The dear devotee holds the teaching fast.───→here18.22───→18.66Drop every duty; take refuge in Me alone.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

14.26Beyond the modes is grace-rooted love.───→here18.22───→18.66Final verse — pure grace, nothing else.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.───→here18.22───→18.66Drop only rival worships, never your nature.

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personbetween

15.15The Lord seated in every heart is the witness.───→here18.22───→18.55By love alone the soul knows what and whose it is.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

12.1The object of love is the puruṣottama himself.───→here18.22───→18.65The chariot-driving Lord is the calf-affection ocean.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

12.14Steady, restrained, mind and intellect bound to Me.───→here18.22───→18.66The avatāra exists for the sake of total mind-rest.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

15.7Three Brahmasūtras quoted in the soul-as-part verse.───→here18.22───→18.55The Nibandha's sevā-section names the means.

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementexit · other

16.22Released from the three gates───→here18.22───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaexit · other

18.16Soul's non-doership, not Self's───→here18.22───→

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)exit

18.1The closing chapter gathers all questions.───→here18.22───→

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktaexit

18.19Each instrument threefold.───→here18.22───→

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleexit

17.23Oṃ-tat-sat names the Lord, three times.───→here18.22───→

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeexit

18.14Of the five causes, Viṣṇu is the prime mover.───→here18.22───→

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksexit

18.16'I am not the doer' names the soul, not Self.───→here18.22───→

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadexit

18.14Āyāsya-śruti closes the agency question.───→here18.22───→

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsexit

18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.───→here18.22───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesexit

18.1Closing chapter's prelude seals the program.───→here18.22───→

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesexit

17.12The threefold yajña/dāna/tapas catalogue is skipped.───→here18.22───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.───→here18.22───→18.66I shall release you from every wrong.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

11.43Teacher, and teacher's teacher beyond compare.───→here18.22───→18.64Hear the supreme word spoken because dear.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

14.26Unwavering love fits one for brahman.───→here18.22───→18.55Through love alone I am known in truth.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.───→here18.22───→18.62Let go of self-claim; take refuge there.

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalbetween

15.7The soul is My portion, wrapped in unknowing.───→here18.22───→18.55He enters Me; he is not absorbed away.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned alonebetween

10.11I dispel the dark of unknowing for them.───→here18.22───→18.65By My grace, you reach Me through what is given.

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineexit

18.1The eighteenth gathers the whole Gītā in one.───→here18.22───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

17.15Mantra and speech. 'Anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha yat, svadhyaya-───→here18.22───→18.61Astrology-as-externalizer and karma-as-frame for why-bad-things-happen. 'Ishvara

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

12.14'Santushtah satatam yogi yatatma dridha-nishchayah.' Always content, self-contro───→here18.22───→18.61'Ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrid-deshe'rjuna tishthati.' The Lord stands in the hea

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologybetween

13.27'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' The same Lord seated equal ───→here18.22───→18.46'Yatah pravrittir bhutanam yena sarvam idam tatam, sva-karmana tam abhyarchya si

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handbetween

11.32Wrist, kalai. Kala, time. 'Kalo'smi loka-kshaya-krit pravriddhah.' Gaurav arrive───→here18.22───→18.47Pointing finger. Svadharma. 'Shreyan svadharmo vigunah para-dharmat svanushthita

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

13.27Atman / Brahman pillar. 'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' The───→here18.22───→18.66Closing pillar in the longer CHI deliveries. 'Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionbetween

11.55See the world as Śiva's own body.───→here18.22───→18.73Confusion gone — but Anugītā still waits.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvarabetween

15.16Two persons inside the field, one beyond.───→here18.22───→18.61He turns all beings like a great machine.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesbetween

12.5Every 'Me' from Krishna is Śiva-consciousness speaking.───→here18.22───→18.62Three names yoked — one referent sealed.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionbetween

12.2Two paths reconciled — one gracious face.───→here18.22───→18.65Four parallel ways of saying one thing.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerbetween

11.35By grace-nature, the secret discloses itself.───→here18.22───→18.62Peace by grace — never by accumulation of work.

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningexit

16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T───→here18.22───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessexit

17.2Even faith is graded through the three.───→here18.22───→

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

15.16Refusing kṣara=inert, akṣara=soul.───→here18.22───→18.66Drop varṇāśrama too is blocked here.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

12.20Dear devotee is at the apex.───→here18.22───→18.66All-dharma surrender is the apex grade.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

15.16Bhūta covers jīva; literal range holds.───→here18.22───→18.66Dharma as upalakṣaṇa of its own results.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaexit

18.1Renunciation closes; threads converge.───→here18.22───→

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhaexit

18.11No full renouncer; tyāga is of fruit.───→here18.22───→

Śabda · lemmas (15 unique · 15 occurrences)

कार्ये kārya — to be done, duty, effect · locative neuter singular noun
सक्तम् √sañj — to attach, cling (verbal root) · nominative neuter singular participle noun
तामसम् tāmasa — tāmasa (derived from tamas 'darkness': 'pertaining to the tamas guṇa') · nominative neuter singular noun
कृत्स्न kṛtsna — whole, entire, complete · compound

show all 15

यत् yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · nominative neuter singular noun
तु tu — but, on the other hand (particle)
वत् vat — possessor of (suffix); also: like, as
एकस्मिन् eka — one, alone, single · locative neuter singular noun
अहैतुकम् ahaituka — causeless, without motive (a- + hetu + -ka) · nominative neuter singular noun
अतत्त्व atattva — (a- + tattva: thatness) · compound
अर्थवत् arthavat — (artha + -vat: meaning) · nominative neuter singular noun
अल्पम् alpa — small, little, scant · nominative neuter singular noun
च ca — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
तत् tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative neuter singular noun
उदाहृतम् ud-√āhṛ — to declare, proclaim (ud- + ā- + √hṛ 'bring up') · nominative neuter singular participle noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01What is the difference between sincere devotion to a concrete form (murti) and the tamasic error of collapsing the infinite into that form — where does legitimate saguna worship end and tamas-jnana begin?
02The verse makes 'without reasoning' (ahetuka) a marker of tamas — does this mean rational scrutiny is spiritually obligatory, and what happens to traditions that prize faith over argument?

show all 7

03If all three gunas are natural constituents of prakriti, is a tamasic knower morally culpable for her ignorance, or merely conditioned by a guna she did not choose?
04Ramanuja ties tamasic knowledge to propitiation of pretas and spirits — how should a practitioner evaluate popular ritual forms (ancestor rites, folk deity propitiation) that may look like this category?
05The verse says such knowledge is 'petty' (alpa) — petty in scope, petty in fruit, or both? What is the relation between narrowness of vision and smallness of result?
06Madhusudana names the Carvakas and Digambaras as exemplars of tamas-jnana — does identifying a philosophical error with a guna amount to a theological argument, and is that intellectually honest?
07Across the six schools, is the cure for tamasic knowledge more information, different reasoning, a different object of devotion, or a transformation of the knower herself?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When you find yourself utterly certain that one fixed role — parent, professional, national identity — is the whole of what you are, and cannot question that certainty, you are in tamas-jnana: a fragment mistaken for the totality. The Advaita practice is to notice the assumption, ask 'what witnesses this identity?', and resist the contraction without abandoning the role.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

Investing all spiritual energy in a single minor ritual — a superstition, a family propitiation rite, an auspicious-day routine — while treating it as the complete religious life is the Ramanuja diagnosis of tamas in practice. The corrective is not to abandon the ritual but to embed it within the larger frame of service to Bhagavan, so the minor act points beyond itself.

show all 6

Dvaita

Tamasic knowledge in the Dvaita key is the refusal to acknowledge any reality higher than oneself or one's immediate group — the error of treating one's own community, ideology, or institution as ultimate. The Dvaita corrective: locate your specific role within the hierarchy of dependence on Hari, and act from that located place rather than from self-sufficiency.

Śuddhādvaita

In the Pustimarga reading, going through religious motions — puja, charity, pilgrimage — without any orientation toward Krsna's grace (prasada) is purposeless (nisprayojana) and tamasic. The everyday shift: before any act of worship, ask whether you are orienting toward the source of grace or merely performing a transaction with a minor deity for a minor gain.

Bhakti

Sridhara's version of tamas-jnana shows up whenever someone insists, without evidence or inquiry, that their limited experience of the sacred ('God is exactly this image, this book, this community') is the complete picture. The bhakti antidote is not less devotion but more honesty: hold your form of the sacred firmly while acknowledging it as a window, not the whole sky.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's examples — materialists who reduce atman to a body-sized lump, idol-worshippers who reduce Isvara to stone — have a contemporary form: the person who reduces the self to a brain-state, or reduces the divine to a cultural artifact. The synthesis corrective: take the embodied, concrete form seriously as a real manifestation (not mere illusion), while simultaneously refusing to seal off the infinite behind it.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

show all metadata

weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18, Verse 22: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga