अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश्च प्रमादो मोह एव च ।तमस्येतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे कुरुनन्दन ॥
aprakāśo’pravṛttiśca pramādo moha eva catamasyetāni jāyante vivṛddhe kurunandana
Nescience, inertia, negligence and delusion – these are born when tamas predominates, O joy of the Kurus.
Gītā 14·13It is the darkness of tamas which obscures knowledge and causes all confusion and delusion. Therefore it is the opposite of sattwa, for the essence of sattwa is enlightenment, prakāśaḥ, and the essence of tamas is absence of light, nescience, aprakāśaḥ. But tamas brings incapacity and negligence of action as well as the incapacity and negligence of error, inattention and misunderstanding or non-understanding; indolence, languor and sleep belong to this guna. Therefore it is the opposite too of rajas; for the essence of rajas is movement and impulsion and kinesis, pravṛttiḥ, but the essence of tamas is inertia, apravṛttiḥ. Tamas is inertia of nescience and inertia of inaction, a double negative.
