Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 31
यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च।अयथावत्प्रजानाति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ राजसी।।
yayā dharmam adharmaṁ ca kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca
ayathāvat prajānāti buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī
also searched as "yaya dharmam adharmam cha karyam chakaryam eva cha"
Translation
The Buddhi that gives an erroneous knowledge of Dharma and Adharma (its opposite) and also of what should be done and what should not be done, O Arjuna, is Rajasic.
Vāṇi's rendering
The understanding that blurs dharma and adharma, that half-sees what should and should not be done — is restless.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ययाyayā | by which |
| धर्मम्dharmam | what upholds, the right |
| अधर्मम्adharmam | what tears down, the wrong |
| चca | and |
| कार्यम्kāryam | what is to be done |
| चca | and (joined with the next word by sandhi: ca + akāryam) |
| अकार्यम्akāryam | what is not to be done |
| एवeva | indeed, precisely |
| चca | and |
| अयथावत्ayathāvat | not as it actually is; askew, half-rightly |
| प्रजानातिprajānāti | knows, makes out |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | the understanding, the discerning faculty |
| साsā | that |
| पार्थpārtha | Arjuna, son of Pṛthā |
| राजसीrājasī | restless, driven by rajas |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 31 mean?
Krishna describes the second grade of understanding. It does perceive dharma and adharma, right action and wrong — but ayathāvat, not as they actually are. Restlessness distorts the picture. Such a buddhi reaches confident conclusions that happen to match its own wanting, and mistakes that match for clarity.
What does the line yaya dharmam adharmam cha karyam chakaryam eva cha teach?
It names the intellect that half-sees. Not the darkened mind that calls wrong right outright, but the heated one that keeps the categories and smudges the border between them. You still speak of duty. You have simply stopped checking whether the duty you name is the one you desire.
How is rajasic understanding different from tamasic understanding?
The tamasic buddhi in the next verse takes adharma to be dharma and is finished with the matter. The rājasic one is still working, still weighing, still asking — and getting it slightly wrong every time, because desire has its thumb on the scale. It argues well. That is the danger.
How do I tell if my own judgment is rajasic?
Watch for the ease of it. When a decision costs you nothing and still feels righteous, look harder. Krishna is not asking you to distrust your understanding, only to notice when it moves too fast toward the answer you already wanted. Slowness is the cure.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice that Krishna does not call this a lie. The rājasic understanding knows there is a dharma; it simply cannot hold still long enough to see where the line falls. Desire tilts the seeing. What you want to do begins to look like what you ought to do, and the two words blur until they are one word. Arjuna's whole crisis is this blur — he has arguments for withdrawing that sound like compassion. Half-seeing is more dangerous than blindness, because it argues. When your duty and your preference arrive at the same conclusion, slow down and look again.