BG 18.31 — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 18.31Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · Pārtha · anuṣṭubh

यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च ।

अयथावत् प्रजानाति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ राजसी ॥

yayā dharmamadharmaṃ ca kāryaṃ cākāryameva ca

ayathāvat prajānāti buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī

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

meaning

The intellect is rajasic, Arjuna, when it sees dharma and adharma, what must be done and what must not, yet cannot tell them apart correctly.

ekras · bhāṣya

Yaya buddhya — by which intellect — prajanati — knows — dharmam adharmam karyam akaryam — dharma and adharma, what is to be done and what not — ayathavat — not as it is. Sa rajasi — that is rajasika.

Krishna names rajasika intellect by what it fails at: it sees the categories but cannot tell them apart correctly.

Shankara reads rajasika buddhi as that by which one does not know dharma and adharma yathavat — correctly, with full decisive discernment. The rajasika buddhi sees both prescribed and forbidden, doable and not-doable, but without the clear judgment that resolves which is which. The verse's force is precisely on ayathavat: the perception is present, the determination is not. The chapter's diagnostic is sharp: misidentification, not blindness.

Madhusudana offers the panel's most elaborate analysis: dharma is shastra-vihita, adharma is shastra-pratishiddha — both operating in the unseen realm; karyam and akaryam operate in the seen realm. The rajasika buddhi does not know any of these rightly; it either fails to reach determination — anadhyavasaya — or reaches viparita-adhyavasaya — inverted determination. The intellect is active but mis-directed; the bhakta watches and recognizes the pattern.

Ramanuja reads the verse as specifying the intellect failing in its two-fold duty: grasping the two kinds of dharma — nishtha — and discerning, within varying desha, kala, avastha, what is karyam and akaryam. The rajasika buddhi knows these categories exist but applies them incorrectly to specific cases. The bhakta's discrimination must operate concretely — abstract knowing of dharma is insufficient if it cannot land in correct application.

Madhva's gloss is spare and diagnostic: rajasika buddhi is distinguished by lack of consistent truth-tracking — yatharthatva-niyama-abhava. The tamasika is worse — cannot tell dharma from adharma at all; the rajasika oscillates, grasping the distinction sometimes but without the stable Hari-grounded discernment that correct action requires. The bheda-frame's diagnostic: instability, not absence.

Vallabha is concise: rajasika buddhi perceives the two-fold dharma and its opposite but does not know them rightly. In pushti-marga, correct knowing is inseparable from Bhagavan's anugraha; a buddhi not saturated by Krishna's prasada perceives dharma as an external obligation rather than as lila-expression. The rajasika practitioner thus operates from rule-application rather than from prasada-flow, and the rule-application falters.

Shridhara marks the rajasika buddhi by ayathavat which he glosses as sandeha-spada — subject to doubt. The rajasika intellect does not make a clean error; it places dharma and adharma into a zone of uncertainty. This ambiguity is rajas's signature: not the blunt confusion of tamas, nor the clarity of sattva, but the wavering of the partially-discerning mind. The chapter's middle-mode of buddhi is precisely positioned.

Context

where

Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna · vocative Pārtha

preceded by — BG 18.30

The intellect that knows when to act and when to withdraw, what is right and what is wrong, what brings fear and what brings freedom, what is bondage and what is liberation, that intellect is sāttvika, Arjuna.

What's going on

The intellect is rajasic, Arjuna, when it sees dharma and adharma, what must be done and what must not, yet cannot tell them apart correctly.

Sūtras through this verse (113)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

13.1Two niṣṭhās, three kāṇḍas — keystone.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.46Worship the One through your own work.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

15.15I sit in every heart.───→here18.31───→18.46The cluster is recalled.

show all 113

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

12.20Mat-paramāḥ as upasaṃhāra───→here18.31───→18.66Take refuge in Me alone

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landbetween

16.1The dispositions decide who can even begin.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.55Knowing burns ignorance; body burns its arc.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.───→here18.31───→18.73Confusion gone, memory gained — the cure complete.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsexit

18.1Three kinds of renouncing, one for each grade.───→here18.31───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherexit

18.1At the very end, the line still holds.───→here18.31───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicexit

18.1Even renouncing splits into three by disposition.───→here18.31───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

15.20Whole teaching named guhyatamaṃ śāstram.───→here18.31───→18.78Colophon: three kāṇḍas, one śāstra.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

12.12Bhakti's gradient is jijñāsu-relative.───→here18.31───→18.66Arjuna lacks formal saṃnyāsa-fitness.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

13.1Boundary protected by stylized doubt.───→here18.31───→18.66Closing verse opened by doubt-and-answer.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelbetween

12.20Closing the bhakti hexad on jñāna.───→here18.31───→18.66Surrender read inside the niṣṭhā-dvaya frame.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

15.20Whole śāstra named most-secret-teaching.───→here18.31───→18.66Final word read as the last upasaṃhāra.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

16.5Mā śucaḥ already once before — same shape.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.66The phala-vilamba grief is what 18.66 closes.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

15.17The Highest Person: disambiguation summit.───→here18.31───→18.46Worship by one's work reaches the indweller.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionbetween

9.33So much more — the sociological span widens.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.66Counterfeit reasonings named, then rejected.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.47The mad-gatena yogi: the carama-form here.───→here18.31───→18.66The carama-śloka extracts what's common.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

16.5Daivī-asuric grief closed mid-text.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.46Karma-yoga's act IS indweller-worship.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.───→here18.31───→18.74The frame closes: 'I heard this dialogue.'

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionbetween

6.24Renounce every desire born of will.───→here18.31───→18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

4.13The four orders are His own creation.───→here18.31───→18.41Each order's work is born of its nature.

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

12.6Surrender every act, and He lifts you out.───→here18.31───→18.62Take refuge whole; grace is the road.

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingbetween

14.24Past the modes, equal in praise and blame.───→here18.31───→18.54The goal is just sameness toward all.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

12.12Even devotion holds its own gradient.───→here18.31───→18.66Devotion's flagship, and the closing door.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.───→here18.31───→18.61He turns all beings mounted on a machine.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here18.31───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsexit

18.1Final chapter compresses seed and answer.───→here18.31───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyexit

18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.───→here18.31───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateexit

17.2Threefold faith: tagged at this site.───→here18.31───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiexit

18.1Tyāga = renouncing the relationship.───→here18.31───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstexit

18.1Final chapter opens with the same form.───→here18.31───→

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionexit

18.1Tyāga-question resolves ch. 16-17's typology.───→here18.31───→

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)exit

18.1Renouncing means cutting the false relationship.───→here18.31───→

RamsukhdasclassicalD

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

18.19Knowledge, action, doer, each one threefold.───→here18.31───→

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsexit

17.5Hard penance off-script is still demonic.───→here18.31───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

5.12Peace of the released───→here18.31───→18.46Work as worship

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

9.22Yogakshema───→here18.31───→18.66Take refuge

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

12.13Dear-bhakta description begins───→here18.31───→18.66Take refuge in Me alone

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentbetween · v2

15.5Free of pride and delusion───→here18.31───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionbetween · v2

3.25Wise act as the unwise act───→here18.31───→18.41Duties divided by guṇa

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

18.25Tamasic action───→here18.31───→18.61Lord at the heart

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

18.16Wrong-seer fails the act───→here18.31───→18.61Lord at the heart, beings spinning

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessbetween · other

16.3Tejas, kṣamā, dhṛti───→here18.31───→18.42Brahmaṇa's kṣamā

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

6.1Soft sense of renouncer───→here18.31───→18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseasebetween

4.42Cut the heart's doubt with the sword of knowledge.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.───→here18.31───→18.66The combined-path view named and dismantled.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentbetween

5.6Renunciation is hard without yoga first.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.55Knowledge-standing IS the highest devotion.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

15.1The world-tree is the tree of the Kaṭha.───→here18.31───→18.66Renounce all dharmas — śruti ratifies.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedbetween

13.34One Self, untouched, in every body.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.66The teaching closes with one command.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

11.55Five clauses, one shelter: mat-karma-kṛt.───→here18.31───→18.46Worship by your own work.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

12.7I lift them across.───→here18.31───→18.65Recollection like sight: the final command.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerbetween

13.2Those who posit ajñāna in Brahman fail.───→here18.31───→18.61The yantrin reading forecloses the residue.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

15.4Find the Origin and take refuge in him.───→here18.31───→18.62Take refuge whole-being.

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminbetween

13.2The whole vibhūti clinches sāmānādhikaraṇya.───→here18.31───→18.42Even brāhmaṇa grounded here.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

12.7I lift him across.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.66Drop every duty; take refuge in Me alone.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

14.26Beyond the modes is grace-rooted love.───→here18.31───→18.66Final verse — pure grace, nothing else.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.55The Nibandha's sevā-section names the means.

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementexit · other

16.22Released from the three gates───→here18.31───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaexit · other

18.16Soul's non-doership, not Self's───→here18.31───→

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)exit

18.1The closing chapter gathers all questions.───→here18.31───→

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktaexit

18.19Each instrument threefold.───→here18.31───→

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleexit

17.23Oṃ-tat-sat names the Lord, three times.───→here18.31───→

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeexit

18.14Of the five causes, Viṣṇu is the prime mover.───→here18.31───→

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksexit

18.16'I am not the doer' names the soul, not Self.───→here18.31───→

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadexit

18.14Āyāsya-śruti closes the agency question.───→here18.31───→

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsexit

18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.───→here18.31───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesexit

18.1Closing chapter's prelude seals the program.───→here18.31───→

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesexit

17.12The threefold yajña/dāna/tapas catalogue is skipped.───→here18.31───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.───→here18.31───→18.66I shall release you from every wrong.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

11.43Teacher, and teacher's teacher beyond compare.───→here18.31───→18.64Hear the supreme word spoken because dear.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

14.26Unwavering love fits one for brahman.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

17.15Mantra and speech. 'Anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha yat, svadhyaya-───→here18.31───→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───→here18.31───→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 ───→here18.31───→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───→here18.31───→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───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.73Confusion gone — but Anugītā still waits.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvarabetween

15.16Two persons inside the field, one beyond.───→here18.31───→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.───→here18.31───→18.62Three names yoked — one referent sealed.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionbetween

12.2Two paths reconciled — one gracious face.───→here18.31───→18.65Four parallel ways of saying one thing.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerbetween

11.35By grace-nature, the secret discloses itself.───→here18.31───→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───→here18.31───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessexit

17.2Even faith is graded through the three.───→here18.31───→

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

15.16Refusing kṣara=inert, akṣara=soul.───→here18.31───→18.66Drop varṇāśrama too is blocked here.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

12.20Dear devotee is at the apex.───→here18.31───→18.66All-dharma surrender is the apex grade.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

15.16Bhūta covers jīva; literal range holds.───→here18.31───→18.66Dharma as upalakṣaṇa of its own results.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaexit

18.1Renunciation closes; threads converge.───→here18.31───→

JayatīrthaclassicalH

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

18.11No full renouncer; tyāga is of fruit.───→here18.31───→

Śabda · lemmas (13 unique · 15 occurrences)

प्रजानाति pra-√jñā — wisdom, insight, discriminating intelligence · present indicative 3rd person singular verb
राजसी rājasa — rājasic; pertaining to the rajas guṇa (passion, activity) · nominative feminine singular noun
बुद्धिः buddhi — intellect, intelligence, discriminating faculty · nominative feminine singular noun · also at 2.44, 2.65, 3.1, 3.2, 10.4, 10.5 +3
अयथावत् ayathāvat — not as it should be, improperly (a- + yathāvat)
पार्थ pārtha — son of Pṛthā (Kuntī); epithet of Arjuna · vocative masculine singular noun · also at 1.25, 1.26, 1.28, 1.29, 1.30, 2.3 +40

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च ca ×3 — and; (homonym: also the consonant ca)
यया yad — which, who (relative pronoun) · instrumental feminine singular noun
धर्मम् dharma — duty, law, righteousness; the principle of right action; one's own nature (sva-dharma) · accusative masculine singular noun
अधर्मम् adharma — unrighteousness (a- + dharma) · accusative masculine singular noun
कार्यम् kārya — to be done, duty, effect · accusative neuter singular noun
अकार्यम् akārya — (a- + kārya: to be done) · accusative neuter singular noun
एव eva — indeed, truly, only (emphatic particle)
सा tad — that (distal demonstrative); also 3rd-person pronoun · nominative feminine singular noun

Praśna · so what (7)

01If rajasic buddhi produces doubt and approximate judgment rather than outright error, how would I distinguish a rajasic intellectual habit from healthy epistemic humility in my own thinking?
02Madhva fixes rajasic buddhi by contrast with tamasic — does this imply that rajasic confusion is in some sense 'closer' to correct discernment, and if so, what is the practice-implication?

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03Sridhara calls rajasic knowing 'sandehaspada' (doubt-prone): in what professional or relational situations does my buddhi consistently land in that zone rather than reach clean judgment?
04Madhusudana distinguishes adrishta (unseen / karmic consequence) and drishta (visible consequence) domains — does my confusion about what to do usually live in one domain more than the other?
05Ramanuja adds desa-kala-avastha (place-time-condition) as the axes of right discernment: which of these three contextual axes do I most often collapse or ignore when deciding what is karyam?
06All six schools agree that rajasic buddhi 'knows the categories but not rightly' — is the problem in these schools one of information-deficit or of orientation-deficit, and what follows from that difference for how one trains the intellect?
07Vallabha implies the rajasic intellect treats dharma as external obligation rather than as lila-expression of grace: where in my life do I experience ethical action as burden rather than as participation in something larger?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

When preparing a consequential decision — a career move, a difficult conversation — notice if your reasoning reaches a clean, decisive conclusion or remains in a fog of 'but also.' Shankara's standard is sarvatas-nirnaya: all-sided, unequivocal determination. If you cannot state the conclusion without a qualifier, the buddhi is still rajasic on that question. The practice is not to force a fake certainty but to keep working — with shastra, with a teacher — until the fog lifts into viveka.

Dvaita

Madhva's test is yatharthatvaniyama — stable truth-tracking. Notice if your moral judgments are consistent across situations where you have no stake versus situations where you do. Rajasic buddhi tends to reach convenient conclusions when self-interest is in play. The Dvaitin corrective is to ask: 'If Hari were the direct witness of this reasoning, would the conclusion hold?' — a form of accountability that de-centers the self as judge.

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Bhakti

Sridhara's sandehaspada — the zone of doubt — is not solved by acquiring more information. Notice the specific moral questions you keep revisiting without resolution: they are not information-problems, they are orientation-problems. The bhakti corrective is to bring those questions into prayer and devotional practice — not to get an answer delivered, but to let the attachment to a particular outcome dissolve so that the Lord's direction can become audible.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusudana's two-domain split is practically useful: separate your questions about 'what will this produce visibly?' (drishta: career, relationship, health) from 'what does this do to the unseen fabric of my life?' (adrishta: samskara, karma-binding). Rajasic buddhi collapses these and either over-weighs visible consequences or dismisses them. His grammatical point — buddhi as instrument, not agent — can be a centering reminder: when confused, recall that the deeper intelligence you are trying to access is not manufactured by you; your job is to quiet the instrument enough to let it function.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

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

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

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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 31: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga