Chapter 18, Verse 21
पृथक्त्वेन तु यज्ज्ञानं नानाभावान्पृथग्विधान् | वेत्ति सर्वेषु भूतेषु तज्ज्ञानं विद्धि राजसम् ||१८-२१||
pṛthaktvena tu yajjñānaṃ nānābhāvānpṛthagvidhān . vetti sarveṣu bhūteṣu tajjñānaṃ viddhi rājasam ||18-21||
Meaning
18.21 But that knowledge which sees in all beings various entities of distinct kinds as different from one another know thou that knowledge to be Rajasic.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
The second grade is rajasic knowledge. Here the mind perceives only prithaktva, separateness — manifold beings, each of a distinct kind, fundamentally divided from one another. It registers the surface diversity of the world but misses the unifying Reality within.
This is the ordinary mode of the active, ambitious mind, perpetually sorting the world into 'mine and not mine,' friend and rival, gain and loss. It is not false, for diversity is real, but it is incomplete and restless. Seeing only difference breeds desire and conflict; without the deeper vision of oneness, knowledge remains tinged with the agitation of rajas.
💡 Key Takeaway
Seeing only separateness and difference, while missing the underlying unity, is restless, passion-tinged knowledge.
Related Verses
दुःखमित्येव यत्कर्म कायक्लेशभयात्त्यजेत् | स कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं नैव त्यागफलं लभेत् ||१८-८||
duḥkhamityeva yatkarma kāyakleśabhayāttyajet . sa kṛtvā rājasaṃ tyāgaṃ naiva tyāgaphalaṃ labhet ||18-8||
18.8 He who abandons action on account of the fear of bodily trouble (because it is painful), does not obtain the merit of renunciation by doing such Rajasic renunciation.
ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं परिज्ञाता त्रिविधा कर्मचोदना | करणं कर्म कर्तेति त्रिविधः कर्मसंग्रहः ||१८-१८||
jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ parijñātā trividhā karmacodanā . karaṇaṃ karma karteti trividhaḥ karmasaṃgrahaḥ ||18-18||
18.18 Knowledge, the knowable and the knower form the threefold impulse to action; the organ, the action and the agent form the threefold basis of action.
सर्वभूतेषु येनैकं भावमव्ययमीक्षते | अविभक्तं विभक्तेषु तज्ज्ञानं विद्धि सात्त्विकम् ||१८-२०||
sarvabhūteṣu yenaikaṃ bhāvamavyayamīkṣate . avibhaktaṃ vibhakteṣu tajjñānaṃ viddhi sāttvikam ||18-20||
18.20 That by which one sees the one indestructible Reality in all beings, not separate in all the separate beings know thou that knowledge to be Sattvic.