Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 18, Verse 32
अधर्मं धर्ममिति या मन्यते तमसाऽऽवृता।सर्वार्थान्विपरीतांश्च बुद्धिः सा पार्थ तामसी।।
adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā manyate tamasāvṛtā
sarvārthān viparītānś ca buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
also searched as "adharmam dharmam iti ya manyate tamasavrta"
Translation
That Buddhi, O Arjuna, which, enveloped in darkness, regards Adharma as Dharma and reverses every value, is Tamasika.
Vāṇi's rendering
And the understanding wrapped in night, that calls adharma dharma and sees everything upside down — is dark.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अधर्मम्adharmam | what is not dharma; wrong |
| धर्मम्dharmam | dharma; what is right |
| इतिiti | thus; calls it so |
| याyā | which (understanding) |
| मन्यतेmanyate | thinks; holds to be |
| तमसाtamasā | by darkness |
| आवृताāvṛtā | covered over, wrapped around (sandhi: tamasā + āvṛtā) |
| सर्वार्थान्sarva-arthān | all things, all meanings and values |
| विपरीतान्viparītān | turned the wrong way round, inverted |
| चca | and |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | the understanding, the faculty that decides |
| साsā | that |
| पार्थpārtha | Arjuna, son of Pṛthā |
| तामसीtāmasī | of the dark quality; tāmasika |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 32 mean?
Krishna is describing the understanding covered by tamas: it does not merely err, it inverts. Adharma is called dharma, and every value is read backwards. The mark of it is confidence, not doubt — which is why it cannot correct itself from within. Darkness here is not ignorance of facts but the loss of the ability to tell which way is up.
What does 'adharmam dharmam iti ya manyate tamasavrta' mean?
It means: the understanding that thinks what is wrong is right, wrapped around by darkness. The word āvṛtā matters — covered, curtained. Nothing has been removed from you; something has been laid over you. A curtain can be drawn back. That is the small mercy hidden in Krishna's harshest description of the mind.
How is tamasic buddhi different from rajasic buddhi?
The rajasic understanding sees dharma and adharma, and still leans the wrong way — pressured by desire, hurry, want. It knows what it is doing. The tāmasic understanding has lost the distinction itself; wrong looks like duty to it. One needs steadying. The other needs light before steadying is even possible.
How can I tell if my own understanding is clouded?
You cannot, alone — that is the point of the verse. A covered mind reports clear weather. So use what is outside you: the counsel of someone honest, the plain words of the Gītā, the discomfort you keep explaining away. When every explanation you give flatters you, be suspicious of the explanation.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
The frightening thing about this understanding is that it is certain. It does not say I am confused. It says this is right, and means the opposite. Rajas at least sees two things and chooses badly; tamas has swapped the labels. Wrapped in night — āvṛtā, covered over, the way cloud covers a hill while the hill still believes it is looking at sky. Arjuna cannot check his conviction from inside his conviction. Neither can you. Which is why the dark understanding never argues its way out; it needs a window. Keep one person close who is allowed to tell you that you are wrong.