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Chapter 18 · Verse 22
🪈 Krishna speaks
Illustration for Chapter 18, Verse 22

यत्तु कृत्स्नवदेकस्मिन्कार्ये सक्तमहैतुकम्। अतत्त्वार्थवदल्पं च तत्तामसमुदाहृतम्॥

yattu kṛtsnavadekasminkārye saktamahaitukam | atattvārthavadalpaṁ ca tattāmasamudāhṛtam ||

Word by Word 13 words
यत्
yad which, that which

that which

तु
tu but

but, however

कृत्स्नवत्
kṛtsna whole, entire vat like, as if

as if it were the whole, as though it were everything

एकस्मिन्
eka one

in one, to a single thing

कार्ये
kṛ to do kārya effect, thing to be done, object

to an effect, to one piece of work or thing

सक्तम्
sañj to cling, to attach

clinging, stuck, attached

अहैतुकम्
a not, without hetu reason, cause

without reason, baseless, lacking a real cause

अतत्त्वार्थवत्
a not tattva truth, reality artha meaning, purpose vat having

not grasping the real truth of things, missing the true point

अल्पम्
alpa small, little, trivial

small, narrow, trivial

च
ca and

and

तत्
tad that

that

तामसम्
tamas darkness, dullness

tamasic, born of dullness and darkness

उदाहृतम्
ud up, forth ā toward hṛ to carry, to bring

is declared, is called, is given as an example

describes the dullest, darkest kind of knowing. It is the kind that grabs hold of one tiny thing and treats it as if it were the whole world. It has no good reason behind it, it never reaches the real truth of anything, and it stays small and narrow. That sort of clinging, reasonless, trivial "knowing" is called , knowing wrapped in darkness.

कथा

The Frog Who Knew Only the Well

From the mythological

Long ago, in a quiet stone well at the edge of a forest, there lived a frog named Kupa. He had been born in that well, and he had never once left it. The well was his whole world — the green moss on the walls, the little ring of sky far above, the cool dark water at the bottom. To Kupa, this was everything that existed.

"There is nothing wider than my well," Kupa would announce to the insects. "I have measured it with my own hops. From this wall to that wall is the widest distance there can ever be."

The insects had seen rivers and fields, but Kupa would not listen. He had decided, and that was that.

One rainy day a traveling frog named Samudra tumbled in over the rim. He was from the sea.

"Welcome!" said Kupa proudly. "You have come to the greatest place in the world. Tell me — is the place you come from as big as one hop?" And he hopped a little way.

"Bigger," said Samudra gently.

"As big as two hops?" Kupa hopped again, sure he was being generous.

"Friend," said Samudra, "the sea is so wide that you could hop for a thousand years and never reach the other side. The sun rises out of it and sets into it. Whole rivers pour into it and it does not even fill up."

Kupa puffed himself up, furious. "Lies! There is nothing bigger than my well. I have never seen this sea, so it cannot be real. My well is all there is."

He turned his back and would not hear another word.

Samudra looked at the little frog clinging so tightly to his little well, certain that his single small puddle was the entire universe. He did not argue. There is no arguing with a mind that has locked its only door. Quietly, when the rains rose, Samudra climbed out and went on toward the great water, leaving Kupa to rule his kingdom of moss and shadow, sure of everything, and knowing almost nothing at all.

चिन्तनम्

Have you ever been completely sure about something, only to find out the world was much bigger than you thought? What helped you change your mind — or what stopped you from listening?