Chapter 18, Verse 35
यया स्वप्नं भयं शोकं विषादं मदमेव च | न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेधा धृतिः सा पार्थ तामसी ||१८-३५||
yayā svapnaṃ bhayaṃ śokaṃ viṣādaṃ madameva ca . na vimuñcati durmedhā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī ||18-35||
Meaning
18.35 That, by which a stupid man does not abandon sleep, fear, grief, despair and also conceit that firmness, O Arjuna, is Tamasic.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Tamasic dhriti is a perverse stubbornness by which a dull-minded person (durmedha) refuses to release sleep, fear, grief, despair, and conceit. Here firmness clings to the very things that should be let go, gripping its own darkness with grim tenacity.
This is willpower turned against the soul. We often imagine determination as always good, but Krishna shows that one can be firmly, immovably attached to one's worst states — wallowing in despondency, nursing fears, hugging arrogance, surrendering to laziness. Such stubborn loyalty to inertia and gloom is firmness in name only. True dhriti holds fast to what uplifts; tamasic dhriti only deepens the rut.
💡 Key Takeaway
Stubbornly clinging to sleep, fear, grief, and conceit is willpower wasted on your own 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).