Verse 14.13

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 14.13:

अप्रकाशोऽप्रवृत्तिश् च प्रमादो मोह एव च ।
तमस्य् एतानि जायन्ते विवृद्धे कुरु-नन्दन ॥ १३ ॥

aprakāśo'pravṛttiś ca pramādo moha eva ca |
tamasy etāni jāyante vivṛddhe kuru-nandana || 13 ||

aprakāśaḥ–lack of discrimination; apravṛttiḥ–inertia; ca–and; pramādaḥ–madness; mohaḥ–illusion; eva–certainly;ca–and; tamasi–in the quality of ignorance; etāni–these; jāyante–are manifest; vivṛddhe–upon becoming predominant; kuru-nandana–O descendant of Kuru Mahārāja.

O descendant of the Kuru dynasty, a predominance of the quality of ignorance gives rise to a lack of discrimination, as well as to apathy, madness and illusion.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Aprakāśaḥ means ‘lack of discrimination’, and ‘to accept what scripture forbids’. Apravṛttiḥ means ‘lack of endeavour’. Pramādaḥ means ‘to believe that the objects before one’s very eyes do not exist’. Moha means ‘to be absorbed in illusory objects’.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

In this verse, Śrī Bhagavān is explaining the symptoms arising from a predominance of tamo-guṇa, the quality of ignorance. Aprakāśa means ‘loss of discrimination’ or ‘lack of knowledge’. It is seen that one in the condition of ignorance tends to thirst for that which scripture forbids. Apravṛtti means ‘to have no inclination to understand the duties recommended by the scriptures’. One believes it is not his fate to perform such duties and he remains indifferent towards them. Moha means ‘illusory absorption’, that is, to become attached to temporary objects, considering them to be eternal.

This is also stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.15):

yadā jayed rajaḥ sattvaṃ tamo mūḍhaṃ layaṃ jaḍam
yujyeta śoka-mohābhyāṃ nidrayā hiṃsayāśayā

Lamentation, delusion, sleep, violence and desire are seen to dominate the living entity when the mode of ignorance, which covers discrimination and causes degradation, overpowers the modes of passion and goodness.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.9) also states, “krodhādyais tamasā yutam–one can infer an excess of the mode of ignorance by symptoms such as anger.” While describing the symptoms by which a person in the mode of ignorance worships Bhagavān, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.25.11) states, “hiṃsām āśāsya tāmasam–a person who worships Me, all the while maintaining a predilection for violence, is understood to be in the mode of ignorance.”