अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश् च प्रमादो मोह एव च । तमस्य् एतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे कुरुनन्दन ॥
aprakāśo'pravṛttiś ca pramādo moha eva ca | tamasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe kurunandana ||
Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
Word by word (3)
- aprakāśaḥ apravṛttiḥ ca
- — aprakāśa (darkness, non-illumination — the opposite of sattva's prakāśa) and apravṛtti (non-activity, inertia — the opposite of rajas's pravṛtti)
- pramādaḥ mohaḥ eva ca
- — pramāda (heedlessness, carelessness, negligence) and moha (delusion, confusion about reality)
- tamasi vivṛddhe etāni jāyante kurunandana
- — these arise when tamas is predominant (vivṛddhe) — O Kurunandana (joy of the Kuru dynasty = Arjuna)
When tamas is predominant, these arise: aprakāśa (inner darkness), apravṛtti (inertness — inability to act), pramāda (heedlessness), and moha (delusion). These four are the signature of tamas.
A modern analogy
Tamas is the heavy blanket that muffles everything. You know you should move, but you can't. You know something is wrong, but the fog won't lift. Nothing seems worth doing (apravṛtti); nothing seems worth attending to (pramāda); the whole world looks unclear (moha). This is tamas at work.
The four signs of tamas complete the three-verse diagnostic section (V11-V13). Notice the symmetry: sattva's sign is LIGHT (jñāna-prakāśa); rajas's signs are MOTION (lobha, pravṛtti, ārambha, spṛhā, aśama); tamas's signs are DARKNESS and NON-MOTION (aprakāśa = no light; apravṛtti = no motion). This reflects the cosmic: tamas = the inertial force of pradhāna (primordial matter) before rajas and sattva activate.
aprakāśa (not-light) and apravṛtti (not-activity) are deliberate negations of sattva's and rajas's primary qualities — confirming that tamas is the negation-guṇa, the one that suppresses the others. pramāda is listed for the second time (also V8) — it is tamas's central weapon. moha closes the list as the most philosophically dangerous: delusion about the nature of reality itself is the root of saṃsāra.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Darkness, heedlessness, inertness, and error — these arise when Tamas is predominant, O descendant of Kuru. [1]
Darkness, inertness, miscomprehension, and delusion — these arise when Tamas is predominant, O descendant of Kuru. [4]
When darkness increases, O descendant of Kuru, then come darkness, inactivity, negligence, and delusion. [9]
When darkness is predominant, O Kurunandana, there arise error, inactivity, negligence (pramāda), and delusion (moha). [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Sattva begets wisdom; rajas begets greed; tamas begets heedlessness, delusion, and ignorance.
Driven by insatiable kāma, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, gripping false notions through moha — impure resolves.
Brahman-become, serene, neither grieving nor desiring, equal to all beings — he attains supreme bhakti to Me.
All beings arise from these two natures as their womb — and I am the origin and dissolution of the entire universe.
Deluded by the three guṇa-constituted states, all this world does not recognize Me — beyond them, imperishable.
This divine māyā of Mine, made of the guṇas, is hard to cross — but those who take refuge in Me alone do cross it.