Shloka 8
Adhyāya 41 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Gurv-anumati and Strategic Counsel (युधिष्ठिरस्य गुर्वनुमतिः)
तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम् । प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत,हे अर्जुन सब देहाभिमानियोंको मोहित करनेवाले5 तमोगुणको तो अज्ञानसे उत्पन्न जानः। वह इस जीवात्माको प्रमाद, आलस्य और निद्राके द्वारा बाँधता है?
tamas tv ajñānajaṁ viddhi mohanaṁ sarvadehinām | pramādālasyanidrābhis tan nibadhnāti bhārata ||
Know tamas to be born of ignorance, the power that deludes all embodied beings. O Bhārata, it binds the self through heedlessness, sloth, and sleep—thereby clouding discernment and weakening ethical resolve.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Tamas is identified as arising from ignorance and as a universal deluding force for embodied beings; it binds by producing negligence, laziness, and sleep, which obstruct clarity, right effort, and ethical steadiness.
In the teaching on the three guṇas, the speaker explains the nature of tamas and how it operates psychologically—describing the concrete modes (heedlessness, sloth, sleep) through which it fetters a person’s agency and discernment.