Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

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

Bg 18.31

yayā dharmam adharmaṁ ca
kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca
ayathāvat prajānāti
buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī

Synonyms: 

yayā — by which; dharmam — the principles of religion; adharmam — irreligion; ca — and; kāryam — what ought to be done; ca — also; akāryam — what ought not to be done; eva — certainly; ca — also; ayathā–vat — imperfectly; prajānāti — knows; buddhiḥ — intelligence; sā — that; pārtha — O son of Pṛthā; rājasī — in the mode of passion.

Translation: 

O son of Pṛthā, that understanding which cannot distinguish between religion and irreligion, between action that should be done and action that should not be done, is in the mode of passion.

yayā dharmam adharmaṁ ca, so what is dharma and what is adharma

 
kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca, Krishna is using the same word as earlier, what we should do and what we should not do.

ayathāvat prajānāti, ayathāvat, yathāvat, means correctly, ayathāvat not properly 

prajānāti, knows

So when one doesn’t understand clearly what is dharma and what is adharma that kind of incorrect understanding is intelligence in the mode of passion, for example in Ramayan many people consider Vibhishan as Bhratra Drohi, so it is not that Vibhishan is betrayer of Ravana but Ravana is betrayer of Dharma, Truth, Virtue and ultimately of all living beings of God, so we have to have a proper reference to understand who is traitor and who is not traitor. So Vibhishan is definitely not a traitor because ultimately we all are meant to be loyal to the Supreme Lord. So we have to adjust and harmonize all our other loyalties in the light of our loyalty to the Supreme Lord, 

Krishna also said Serva Dharman Parityaja…
ayathāvat prajānāti, when one doesn’t know what is Dharma what is not Dharma then that is the knowledge in the mode of passion, Ravana was a Rakchasa and was in mode of passion and ignorance, there are people who are followers of Ravana and consider Ravana to be a good person and consider Vibhishan a bad person as Vibhishana betrayed Ravana, this is quite perversities of the value of the scriptures.  ayathāvat prajānāti, when one doesn’t understand what is the value of the scripture, what is to be done and what is not. That is knowledge but that knowledge is contaminated. Because of this people don’t understand that long term goal of going back to Godhead is not that important as short term goals likes pleasure of this world, or it is pleasure of going to heavens, so to recognize Karma Kanda more important than Bhakti is a mistake because people don’t recognize ultimate reality, ayathāvat prajānāti, because of this that which is lower principle is considered higher principle and that which is higher principle is neglected. In mode of passion one thinks matter and material things to be extremely important, nānā-bhāvān pṛthag-vidhān,18.21, in mode of passion 

When one see different bodies they think it represents difference in souls, in mode of passion there is too much emphasis and because of too much focus on externals one is not able to see internals. Soul’s awareness of spiritual reality and souls awareness of Krishna. All this is not adequate it is incorrect  ayathāvat prajānāti, in the mode of passion.

End fo transcription.