Complete learning edition. The Sanskrit source remains separate from attributed word meanings, translation, explanation and commentary witnesses. Diagrams and memory aids are study tools, not replacements for the source text.
अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसाऽऽवृता।सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी।।18.32।।
adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛitā sarvārthān viparītānśh cha buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
And that which, shrouded in Ignorance, thinks wrong to be right, and sees everything perversely, O Arjuna, that intellect is ruled by Darkness.
English rendering by Shri Purohit Swami. Each source voice remains named.
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Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.
| Sanskrit form | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| adharmam | irreligion |
| dharmam | religion |
| iti | thus |
| yā | which |
| manyate | imagines |
| tamasa-āvṛitā | shrouded in darkness |
| sarva-arthān | all things |
| viparītān | opposite |
| cha | and |
| buddhiḥ | intellect |
| sā | that |
| pārtha | Arjun, the son of Pritha |
| tāmasī | of the nature of ignorance |
That intellect which regards righteous acts as evil, and considers right things to be false, which treats everything in a contrary sense and looks upon virtues as if they were vices and takes everything that the scriptures declare to be good as being entirely wrong, is Tamasic. It views all things in a perverted light.
Attributed explanatory witness: Swami Sivananda. Chapter lens: Follow the great recapitulation through renunciation, action, knowledge, duty, devotion, refuge and Sañjaya’s conclusion.
Three named reading witnesses
Śaṅkara edition witness
Swami GambiranandaO Partha, that intellect is born of tamas which, being covered by darkness, considers vice as virtue, and indeed perceives all things contrary to what they are.
Rāmānuja edition witness
Swami AdidevanandaThat Buddhi, O Arjuna, which, enveloped in darkness, regards Adharma as Dharma and reverses every value, is Tamasika.
Sivananda commentary witness
Swami SivanandaThat intellect which regards righteous acts as evil, and considers right things to be false, which treats everything in a contrary sense and looks upon virtues as if they were vices and takes everything that the scriptures declare to be good as being entirely wrong, is Tamasic. It views all things in a perverted light.
These are concise, attributed reading witnesses from identified editions. They are presented for comparison and are not merged into one anonymous interpretation.
Meaning map
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- 1
And that which, shrouded in Ignorance, thinks wrong to be right
- 2
sees everything perversely, O Arjuna, that intellect is ruled by Darkness
- 3
adharmam: irreligion
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Follow the great recapitulation through renunciation, action, knowledge, duty, devotion, refuge and Sañjaya’s conclusion.
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