Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 22

यत्तु कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन्कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम् । अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्

yattu kṛtsnavadekasminkārye saktamahaitukam | atattvārthavadalpaṃ ca tattāmasamudāhṛtam

Translation

But that which clings to one single effect as if it were all, without reason, having no real object, and narrow, that is declared to be Tāmasic.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

yat

which

tu

indeed

kṛtsnavat

like the whole

ekasmin

in one

kārye

action

saktam

attached

ahaitukam

without cause

atattvārthavat

without essential significance

alpam

small

ca

and

tat

that

tāmasam

tāmasic

udāhṛtam

is called

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Tāmasic knowledge is engrossed in one single effect — such as the body or an external idol — as though it is all-comprehensive, thinking 'this body is the Self' or 'that is God', and that there is nothing higher than that. Jīva, for example, dwelling in the body is regarded by the naked Śramaṇakas (the Jains) as being of the size of that body; and the Īśvara is regarded by some to be the mere stone or piece of wood. This knowledge is not founded on reason and does not perceive things as they are.