18.22
Chapter 18, Verse 22
यत्तु कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन्कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम्। अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्৷৷
yattu kṛtsnavadēkasminkāryē saktamahaitukam. atattvārthavadalpaṅ ca tattāmasamudāhṛtam৷৷
Translation
But that which clings blindly to one idea as if it were all, without logic, truth or insight, that has its origin in Darkness.
Translation — Purohit Swami
Commentary
यत् which, तु but, कृत्स्नवत् as if it were the whole, एकस्मिन् one single, कार्ये to effect, सक्तम् attached, अहैतुकम् without reason, अतत्त्वार्थवत् without foundation in Truth, अल्पम् trivial, च and, तत् that,,तामसम् Tamasic (dark), उदाहृतम् is declared. Commentary: The knowledge which regards that each and every object or being exists by itself and is perfect by itself, is Tamasic.One single effect Such as the body, thinking it to be the Self, or an idol, taking it for God, and thinking that there is nothing higher than that.The naked Jains consider that the soul which dwells in the body is of the same size as that of the body. Some regard that Isvara is a mere piece of stone or wood. Such knowledge is really not based on reason. It does not see things in their true light. It is narrow (Alpam) as it is not founded on reason. It produces very small results too. It extends over a limited area and is not allcomprehensive. This knowledge is said to be Tamasic, as it is found in Tamasic persons who are devoid of the power of discrimination.
Commentary — Swami Sivananda
Sanskrit and transliteration of the Bhagavad Gita. Corpus compiled from the vedabase and the IIT Kanpur Gita Supersite.