Devanagari
कलेर्दुर्विषह: क्रोधस्तमस्तमनुवर्तते ।
तमसा ग्रस्यते पुंसश्चेतना व्यापिनी द्रुतम् ॥ २० ॥
Verse text
kaler durviṣahaḥ krodhas
tamas tam anuvartate
tamasā grasyate puṁsaś
cetanā vyāpinī drutam
Synonyms
kaleḥ
—
from quarrel
;
durviṣahaḥ
—
intolerable
;
krodhaḥ
—
anger
;
tamaḥ
—
ignorance
;
tam
—
that anger
;
anuvartate
—
follows
;
tamasā
—
by ignorance
;
grasyate
—
is seized
;
puṁsaḥ
—
of a man
;
cetanā
—
the consciousness
;
vyāpinī
—
broad
;
drutam
—
swiftly .
Translation
From quarrel arises intolerable anger, followed by the darkness of ignorance. This ignorance quickly overtakes a man’s broad intelligence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
From quarrel arises intolerable anger, followed by illusion. By this illusion, remembrance of what to do and not to do is quickly destroyed.
Following anger is illusion (tamaḥ). By that, memory (cetanā) of what to do and what not to do is quickly destroyed.
Purport
The desire for material association arises from one’s propensity to deny that everything is God’s energy. Falsely imagining material sense objects to be separate from the Supreme Lord, one desires to enjoy them; such desire gives rise to conflict and quarrel in human society. This conflict inevitably gives rise to great anger, which makes human beings become foolish and destructive. Thus the actual goal of human life is quickly forgotten.