Sanskrit
नियतस्य तु संन्यासः कर्मणो नोपपद्यते । मोहात्तस्य परित्यागस्तामसः परिकीर्तितः ॥ ७ ॥
niyatasya tu saṃnyāsaḥ karmaṇo nopapadyate mohāt tasya parityāgas tāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
Translation
Verily renunciation of actions that are prescribed is not proper; the relinquishment thereof from delusion is said to be of darkness.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The threefold analysis of tyaga begins with its worst form: giving up a prescribed duty out of confusion or delusion (moha) is tamasic relinquishment, and Krishna calls it flatly improper. This echoes chapter 3’s warning against abandoning one’s ordained work through misunderstanding, and it draws a hard line between renunciation as wisdom and renunciation as avoidance dressed up as wisdom. Tāmasic relinquishment: dropping one’s prescribed work mohāt, out of confusion — which is precisely what Arjuna proposed in chapter 1 and what BG 18.59–BG 18.60 will name as futile.
Study deeper
Word by word
- niyatasya tu saṃnyāsaḥनियतस्य तु संन्यासः
- but the renunciation of prescribed action (niyatasya + tu + saṃnyāsaḥ)
- karmaṇo nopapadyateकर्मणो नोपपद्यते
- is not fitting (karmaṇaḥ + na + upapadyate)
- mohāt tasya parityāgasमोहात् तस्य परित्यागस्
- its abandonment through delusion (mohāt + tasya + parityāgaḥ)
- tāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥतामसः परिकीर्तितः
- is declared tāmasic (tāmasaḥ + parikīrtitaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Krishna opens the threefold breakdown with the worst case, not the ideal — tamasic relinquishment described first, sattvic relinquishment held back until verse 9. Naming the failure mode before naming the goal is a real teaching choice: by the time verse 9 arrives, “do your duty because it ought to be done” lands as a relief and a contrast, not as an abstract ideal introduced cold.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Before you try to describe the habit you actually want, get specific about its failure mode first — quitting from confusion rather than clarity, in this verse's terms — so the ideal, when you name it, lands by contrast instead of as a vague standalone goal.
Professional
- When onboarding someone new, show them the failure pattern first — abandoning a task from unclear scope rather than a real decision — before describing the ideal approach; the contrast teaches the standard faster than a description of best practice on its own.
Family & Social
- When teaching a child a value like follow-through, describe concretely what giving up out of confusion looks like before describing the ideal — a specific contrast usually lands better with kids than an abstract description of the goal alone.
Ask yourself
A few ways to take this verse past reading. Ticks and the note stay in this browser.