Mahakatha
M 80% OFF

Chapter 18 · Verse 32 · Moksha Sanyaas Yoga

Bhagavad Gita 18.32

contemplative Dharma & Duty Jnana & Wisdom Self & Identity

Sanskrit

अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसाऽऽवृता।सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी।।18.32।।

Transliteration

adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛitā sarvārthān viparītānśh cha buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī

Word by Word

adharmam irreligion
dharmam religion
iti thus
which
manyate imagines
tamasa-āvṛitā shrouded in darkness
sarva-arthān all things
viparītān opposite
cha and
buddhiḥ intellect
that
pārtha Arjun, the son of Pritha
tāmasī of the nature of ignorance
Simplified Perspective

When the intellect is covered by tamas—the darkness of ignorance—it cannot distinguish between dharma and adharma, between what upholds truth and what destroys it. The tamasic mind sees everything inverted: it calls injustice justice, cruelty kindness, and bondage freedom.

This is the deepest spiritual blindness, for it robs us of the capacity to choose wisely. In our modern world, we encounter this constantly when we rationalize harm as necessity, mistake convenience for righteousness, or follow crowds into actions that contradict our deepest knowing.

Listen

Bhagavad Gita 18.32 — BG 18.32

0:00
Sanskrit text from the Bhagavad Gita (public domain). Commentary © Mahakatha.

Your Mantra Prescription

This mantra is prescribed for clarity and purpose. Is that what you're going through?

2.2M people trust Mahakatha