Chapter 18, Verse 28
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||
Meaning
18.28 Unsteady, vulgar, unbending, cheating, malicious, lazy, desponding and procrastinating such an agent is called Tamasic.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna paints the tamasic doer in unsparing strokes: undisciplined and unsteady, coarse, stubborn, deceitful, malicious, lazy, perpetually gloomy, and forever putting things off — dirghasutri, the chronic procrastinator who lets every task drag on endlessly.
This is the agent paralyzed by darkness. Where sattva acts with calm resolve and rajas with feverish craving, tamas barely acts at all, and what it does is tainted by sloth and dishonesty. The catalogue is a sobering self-test. Recognizing any of these traits in oneself is not cause for despair but an invitation: awareness is the first light that begins to lift the inertia of tamas.
💡 Key Takeaway
Laziness, despondency, and endless procrastination are the marks of a doer sunk in inertia and darkness.
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.
यत्तु कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन्कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम् | अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत्तामसमुदाहृतम् ||१८-२२||
yattu kṛtsnavadekasminkārye saktamahaitukam . atattvārthavadalpaṃ ca tattāmasamudāhṛtam ||18-22||
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.
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).