Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

After this Krishna describes mode of ignorance

Bg 14.13

aprakāśo ’pravṛttiś ca
pramādo moha eva ca
tamasy etāni jāyante
vivṛddhe kuru-nandana

Synonyms: 

aprakāśaḥ — darkness; apravṛttiḥ — inactivity; ca — and; pramādaḥ — madness; mohaḥ — illusion; eva — certainly; ca — also; tamasi — the mode of ignorance; etāni — these; jāyante — are manifested; vivṛddhe — when developed; kuru–nandana — O son of Kuru.

Translation: 

When there is an increase in the mode of ignorance, O son of Kuru, darkness, inertia, madness and illusion are manifested.

 

The work Prakasha has been used for mode of goodness in 14.11

sarva-dvāreṣu dehe ’smin
prakāśa upajāyate

 

and the word pravṛttir has been used for the mode of passion in 14.12

lobhaḥ pravṛttir ārambhaḥ

 

But now here Krishna is using the word aprakāśo ’pravṛttiś ca, i.e. there is neither the illumination of goodness not the action of passion and what is there? There is simple immobilization pramādo moha eva ca, there is illusion and there is intoxication madness, 

tamasy etāni jāyante
vivṛddhe kuru-nandana

Krishna is addressing Arjuna by various words like kuru-nandana you have great connection and dynast but please understand that these modes are powerful and formidable vivṛddhe, they can overpower anyone they can overpower even you.

Earlier it was Pramad Alas Nidra Bhis now it is pramādo moha eva ca, Nidra is not mentioned because He is not talking about the necessary bodily function of sleep, He is talking about unnecessary and undesirable aggravation of modes, within the competition of three modes when one of the mode become predominant that shakes up the person, and that makes the person act in undesirable ways, of course in goodness it may be somewhat better, it will be desirable in some ways but even that keeps us in bondage but in passion and ignorance it is much worse. 

So

 tamasy etāni jāyante

so when tama guna is more that time pramādo and moha are more what are those? Paramada is madness moha there are two forms sadism and masochism. Sadism is to cause pain to others by causing pains to others one gets pleasure to oneself. Masochism is one causes pain to oneself and gets pleasure e.g. we talked about cutting own body limbs. Some people will whip oneself and through that one get some pleasure. 

In the mode of passion there is male female attraction but when mode of passion and mode if ignorance get combined then even sexuality gets perverted in various different ways, and people started getting into various kinds of unnatural sex and people beat each other and do all such sorts of things and think that such things are pleasure. Such kinds of sexuality is largely in the mode of ignorance. 

pramādo moha eva ca

so addictions are example of this pramada and moha is illusion and all living entity are in moha we think that I am the body. But here in ignorance one is not only in moha about one’s spiritual identity but also moha about one’s material capacity, a person may be poverty stricken but he may think that I am wrestling champion and I can beat any person especially we see it in drunkard but we can see in other kind of persons also. 

tamasy etāni jāyante

tamasy means mode of ignorance 

etāni jāyante, this is born of the mode of ignorance.

End of transcription.