अधर्मं धर्मम् इति या मन्यते तमसावृता । सर्वार्थान् विपरीतांश् च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी ॥
adharmaṃ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛtā | sarvārthān viparītāṃś ca buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī ||
Tāmasic buddhi: enveloped in darkness, sees adharma as dharma, all things inverted and perverted.
Word by word (3)
- adharmaṃ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛtā
- — that which (yā) thinks/considers (manyate) adharma (wrong) to be dharma (right) — tamasā āvṛtā = enveloped/covered (āvṛtā = covered/enveloped) by tamas (darkness) — not distorted like V31 but completely inverted: adharma IS dharma
- sarvārthān viparītāṃś ca buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
- — and all things/meanings/purposes (sarvārthān = sarva-arthān = all objects of knowing) in a reversed/inverted manner (viparītān = reversed, perverted; ca = and), that (sā) buddhi (intellect), O Pārtha, is tāmasic (tāmasī) — sarvārthān viparītān: ALL things seen inverted
- tamasāvṛtā
- — enveloped/covered by tamas — the image of covering (āvaraṇa = covering) is the defining action of tamas on intellect; tamas covers (āvṛ = to cover) the light of buddhi so completely that everything is seen inverted; contrast with rājasic distortion (partial) vs. tāmasic inversion (complete)
That intellect which, enveloped in darkness, considers adharma to be dharma and views all things in a perverted/inverted manner — that intellect, O Pārtha, is tāmasic.
A modern analogy
Tāmasic buddhi is like a mirror completely coated with paint — not merely distorting (rājasic) but showing nothing of reality at all. The person sees the opposite of what is true: cruelty appears as strength, cowardice as wisdom, selfishness as legitimate right. When tamas fully envelops the intellect, the person sincerely believes that adharma IS dharma — they are not merely rationalizing; they are genuinely deluded.
V32 closes the three-fold buddhi analysis (V30-32). The progression: sāttvic (V30) = yathāvat (correctly) sees all pairs; rājasic (V31) = ayathāvat (incorrectly) sees dharma-adharma; tāmasic (V32) = completely inverted (adharmaṃ dharmam iti manyate) and sees sarvārthān viparītān (all things backwards). The image of tamasāvṛtā (covered by tamas) is philosophically precise: Ch.14 described tamas as āvaraṇa (covering) — V32 shows what happens when buddhi itself is fully covered: complete systematic inversion of values.
Sarvārthān viparītān (all things reversed/inverted) is the totalizing consequence of tāmasic buddhi. When the Gita describes āsurī nature (Ch.16) — killing as noble, cruelty as strength, delusion as wisdom — that is tāmasic buddhi in action. The āsurī person is not merely wrong about some things; their entire evaluative framework is inverted. This is why Ch.16 calls āsurī nature a path to degradation: not because of specific bad acts, but because the very instrument of moral discernment (buddhi) is systematically inverted.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
That which, enveloped in darkness, sees adharma as dharma and all things perverted, that intellect, O Partha, is Tamasic. [1]
That which, enveloped in darkness, regards Adharma as Dharma and views all things in a perverted light, that intellect, O Partha, is Tamasika. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
That intellect which, shrouded by darkness, regards wrong to be right, and all things as reversed, is of the quality of darkness. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
Duryodhana lists his greatest champions — and every name carries its own tragic irony.
I would rather be killed than kill them — a statement of love that goes beyond self-preservation.
Better to die with clean hands than to win with blood on them.
Rājasic buddhi: imperfectly/wrongly discerns dharma-adharma and kārya-akārya — not as they really are.