18.35 Not letting go of grief Krishna speaks
यया स्वप्नं भयं शोकं विषादं मदमेव च
न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेधा धृतिः सा पार्थ तामसी
yayā svapnaṁ bhayaṁ śhokaṁ viṣhādaṁ madam eva cha
na vimuñchati durmedhā dhṛitiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī
And the steadiness by which the dull do not let go of sleep, fear, grief, despair and conceit is of inertia.
Explanation
Not letting go of grief.
Sleep, fear, grief, despair and conceit — held onto by the dull.
The verse describes steadiness as a fault: a firm grip on the wrong things. And the list is close to a description of the man in chapter 1, which the book is willing to name at the end as well as the beginning.
Word by word
- yayā
- in which
- svapnam
- dreaming
- bhayam
- fearing
- śhokam
- grieving
- viṣhādam
- despair
- madam
- conceit
- eva
- indeed
- cha
- and
- na
- not
- vimuñchati
- give up
- durmedhā
- unintelligent
- dhṛitiḥ
- resolve
- sā
- that
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- tāmasī
- in the mode of ignorance
Long-press or right-click the image to copy it. Nothing is uploaded — it is drawn here, on your device.