Chapter 18, Verse 22
यत्तु कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन्कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम् | अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ||१८-२२||
yattu kṛtsnavadekasminkārye saktamahaitukam . atattvārthavadalpaṃ ca tattāmasamudāhṛtam ||18-22||
Meaning
18.22 But that which clings to one single effect as if it were the whole, without reason, without foundation in Truth, and trivial that is declared to be Tamasic.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
The lowest grade is tamasic knowledge. It fixates on a single object or activity as if it were the whole of reality, clinging without reason, with no grounding in truth and no breadth of vision. Krishna calls it ahaitukam and alpam — irrational and trivially narrow.
This is the knowledge of obsession and prejudice, where a tiny fragment is mistaken for everything. The fanatic who clings to one cause as the sole truth, or the narrow mind that cannot see beyond its immediate fixation, dwells here. Bound by darkness, such knowing neither perceives the diversity that rajas at least notices, nor the unity that sattva reveals. It is the most blinkered vision of all.
💡 Key Takeaway
Clinging irrationally to one narrow thing as if it were the whole truth is the darkest kind of knowing.
Related Verses
नियतस्य तु संन्यासः कर्मणो नोपपद्यते | मोहात्तस्य परित्यागस्तामसः परिकीर्तितः ||१८-७||
niyatasya tu saṃnyāsaḥ karmaṇo nopapadyate . mohāttasya parityāgastāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ ||18-7||
18.7 Verily the renunciation of obligatory action is not proper; the abandonment of the same from delusion is declared to be Tamasic.
अनुबन्धं क्षयं हिंसामनपेक्ष्य च पौरुषम् | मोहादारभ्यते कर्म यत्तत्तामसमुच्यते ||१८-२५||
anubandhaṃ kṣayaṃ hiṃsāmanapekṣya ca pauruṣam . mohādārabhyate karma yattattāmasamucyate ||18-25||
18.25 That action which is undertaken from delusion, without a regard for the conseences, loss, injury and (one's own) ability that is declared to be Tamasic (dark).
अयुक्तः प्राकृतः स्तब्धः शठो नैष्कृतिकोऽलसः | विषादी दीर्घसूत्री च कर्ता तामस उच्यते ||१८-२८||
ayuktaḥ prākṛtaḥ stabdhaḥ śaṭho naiṣkṛtiko.alasaḥ . viṣādī dīrghasūtrī ca kartā tāmasa ucyate ||18-28||
18.28 Unsteady, vulgar, unbending, cheating, malicious, lazy, desponding and procrastinating such an agent is called Tamasic.