Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 8
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 14 श्लोक 8

तमस्त्वज्ञानजं विद्धि मोहनं सर्वदेहिनाम्।
प्रमादालस्यनिद्राभिस्तन्निबध्नाति भारत।।14.8।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
14.8 On the other hand, know tamas, which deludes all embodied beings, to be born of ignorance. O scion of the Bharata dynasty, that binds through inadvertence, laziness and sleep.


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
14.8 By false knowledge is here to be understood as what is other than knowledge. What is called knowledge is right perception of things. What is other than this is false knowledge. And Tamas springs from knowledge contrary to the true nature of thinngs. It deludes all embodied selves. Delusion is erroneous knowledge. The meaning is that Tamas is the cause of erroneous knowledge. Being the cause of negligence, indolence and sleep, it binds the embodied self through them. Negligence is inattentiveness, which causes one to perform works other than what ought to be done. Indolence is the tendency to avoid work; it may even develop into absolute inaction. Sleep. is the state in which the external organs stop working due to exhaustion and seek to recover from the same. In sleep when only the outgoing actionof the senses stop, it is called dream state. When even the mind (Manas) ceases to function, it is called dreamless sleep.

He states the cardinal feature forming the ways of bondage through Sattva etc.


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 14.8Tamastwajnaanajam viddhi mohanam sarvadehinaam;
Pramaadaalasyanidraabhis tannibadhnaati bhaarata.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 14.8tamaḥ—mode of ignorance; tu—but; ajñāna-jam—born of ignorance; viddhi—know; mohanam—illusion; sarva-dehinām—for all the embodied souls; pramāda—negligence; ālasya—laziness; nidrābhiḥ—and sleep; tat—that; nibadhnāti—binds; bhārata—Arjun, the son of Bharat