Bhagavad Gita · Sankhya YogaChapter 2, Shloka 63 (2.63)
Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्
क्रोधाद् भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात् स्मृतिविभ्रमः
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात् प्रणश्यति
॥ 2.63 ॥
krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛtivibhramaḥ
smṛtibhraṃśād buddhināśo buddhināśāt praṇaśyati
Translation
"From anger comes delusion (the loss of discernment), from delusion memory wanders, when memory fails understanding is destroyed, and when understanding is destroyed a person is ruined."
Interpretation
The ladder of downfall (second part):
- Delusion (sammoha) — Shankaracharya: avivekaḥ kāryākārya-viṣayaḥ — losing the discernment of what should and should not be done. His example: kruddho hi saṃmūḍhaḥ san gurum apy ākrośati — a person deluded by anger will abuse even his guru. Ramanuja: kṛtyākṛtya-viveka-śūnyatā, tayā sarvaṃ karoti — devoid of discernment, he may do anything at all.
- Wandering of memory (smriti-vibhrama) — Shankaracharya: the memory formed from the teaching of scripture and guru not arising when it is needed. He had learnt it — but in that moment it did not come to mind.
- Ruin of understanding (buddhi-nasha) — Shankaracharya: the destruction of the inner faculty's ability to discern what should and should not be done. Ramanuja: the destruction of the vyavasaya (firm resolve) made for knowledge of the self — recall the "vyavasayatmika buddhi" of 2.41.
- Ruin (pranasha) — Shankaracharya's famous sentence: tāvad eva hi puruṣaḥ yāvad antaḥkaraṇaṃ tadīyaṃ kāryākārya-viṣaya-viveka-yogyam; tad-ayogyatve naṣṭa eva puruṣo bhavati — a person is a person only so long as his inner faculty can discern right from wrong; the moment this ability is gone he is "ruined" — puruṣārthāyogyaḥ, unfit for the goals of life. Ramanuja: he sinks back into samsara.
AI-assisted draft translation — under review.