यया स्वप्नं भयं शोकं विषादं मदम् एव च । न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेधा धृतिः सा पार्थ तामसी ॥
yayā svapnaṃ bhayaṃ śokaṃ viṣādaṃ madam eva ca | na vimuñcati durmedhā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī ||
Tāmasic dhṛti: the dull-witted one does not give up sleep, fear, grief, despondency, and pride.
Word by word (3)
- yayā svapnaṃ bhayaṃ śokaṃ viṣādaṃ madam eva ca
- — by which (yayā) sleep (svapna), fear (bhaya), grief/sorrow (śoka), despondency/despair (viṣāda), and also (ca) pride/intoxication/arrogance (mada) — five things that tāmasic dhṛti holds on to rather than releasing
- na vimuñcati durmedhā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
- — does not abandon/release (na vimuñcati = does not let go of), a dull-witted/stupid person (durmedhā = dur + medhā = bad-intelligence), that (sā) dhṛti, O Pārtha, is tāmasic (tāmasī) — the ironic definition: tāmasic 'dhṛti' holds on to precisely the things one should let go of
- durmedhā
- — dull-witted/bad-intelligence (dur = bad + medhā = intelligence); the tāmasic dhṛti person is identified as durmedhā — their firmness is not yogic discernment but obstinate dullness; they cling to sleep, fear, grief, despondency, and pride — all of which are obstacles to liberation — because their intelligence cannot discern what should be held vs. released
That firmness by which a dull-witted person does not abandon sleep, fear, grief, despondency, and pride — that firmness, O Pārtha, is tāmasic.
A modern analogy
Tāmasic dhṛti is the grim stubbornness of someone who cannot get out of bed (svapna), cannot shake off fear (bhaya) or grief (śoka), sinks into despair (viṣāda), or nurses arrogant pride (mada) — and 'holds onto' these states not as a choice but because their dull intellect (durmedhā) cannot discern that these are to be released. It is the exact opposite of dhṛti's real purpose: instead of holding what should be held (yoga, dharma, clarity), it holds what should be released.
V35 closes the three-fold dhṛti analysis (V33-35). The tāmasic irony is profound: dhṛti (firmness/holding) in its highest form (V33) holds the mind-prāṇa-senses steady through yoga. In its tāmasic form (V35), it 'holds' onto five obstacles — sleep, fear, grief, despondency, pride — and cannot let them go. This is not positive holding but negative clinging — the same word (dhārayate/vimuñcati) but inverted purpose. Durmedhā (dull-witted) is the cause: the intelligence has been so obscured by tamas that it cannot discern what deserves release.
Mada (pride/arrogance/intoxication) appearing at the end of the tāmasic list alongside svapna (sleep) and viṣāda (despondency) is notable. Tamas does not produce only passive depression — it also produces the arrogance of the obstinate. The same tāmasic obscuration that makes one sleep too much or sink into despondency can also produce a stiff, proud refusal to change, learn, or release attachments. V28's stabdha (obstinate) + V35's mada form this tāmasic arrogance-cluster.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
That with which a stupid man does not give up sleep, fear, grief, depression and lust, that firmness, O Partha, is Tamasic. [1]
That by which a stupid man does not give up sleep, fear, grief, despondency, and also overweening conceit, that fortitude, O Partha, is Tamasika. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
That through which an undiscerning person abandons not sleep, fear, sorrow, despondency, and folly, that constancy is deemed to be of the quality of darkness. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
All actions are done by the gunas of nature. The ego-deluded one thinks 'I am the doer' — this is the root of bondage.
Unmoved in sorrow, ungreedy in joy, free from passion, fear, and anger — that is the steady sage.
With senses, mind and buddhi controlled, free of desire, fear and anger — the liberation-oriented muni is ever-free.
Rājasic kartā: passionate, fruit-desiring, greedy, cruel-natured, impure, subject to elation and sorrow.
Paramātmā: beginningless, nirguṇa, imperishable — dwelling in the body, yet neither acts nor is tainted.