Insights Into

Bhagavad Gita

by Poojya Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
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Chapter 18, Verse 31
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Chapter 18: Mokṣa-sannyāsa-yoga: – Liberation, Renunciation and the Supreme SecretVerse 31

यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च ।
अयथावत्प्रजानाति बुद्धि: सा पार्थ राजसी ॥

yayā dharmam-adharmaṃ ca
kāryaṃ cākāryam-eva ca
ayathāvat-prajānāti
buddhi: sā pārtha rājasī – 18.31

O Pārtha, that intelligence which wrongly understands the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’, what is ‘to be done’ and what is ‘not to be done’, is rājasa.

Chapter 18: Mokṣa-sannyāsa-yoga: – Liberation, Renunciation and the Supreme Secret - Verse 31

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
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It is not enough if the intelligence is sharp and perceptive. It should reason out matters properly. Rajo-guna distorts thinking leading to all kinds of violation. Duryodhana exemplifies this the most.

Totally intolerant of the prosperity and excellence Pandavas achieved in Indraprastha, Duryodhana invited Yudhishthira for a dice-play in Hastinapura. With the help of his uncle Shakuni, an expert in foul-play, he got Yudhishthira stake his kingdom, brothers, himself and their wife Draupadi, and lose them one after another. Then Duryodhana sent Pandavas with Draupadi on a 12-year forest exile followed by one year incognito life.

Completing it all, when Yudhishthira asked for the kingdom back, Duryodhana refused, stating they could fight and get it back. He violated all norms of ethics and propriety, rejecting the advice of Bheeshma, his own parents, and Vidura to mend his ways. The delusion and havoc rajo-guna causes are untold indeed!

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