Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 18, Verse 7

नियतस्य तु सन्न्यास: कर्मणो नोपपद्यते |
मोहात्तस्य परित्यागस्तामस: परिकीर्तित: || 7||

niyatasya tu sannyāsaḥ karmaṇo nopapadyate
mohāt tasya parityāgas tāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ

niyatasya—of prescribed duties; tu—but; sanyāsaḥ—renunciation; karmaṇaḥ—actions; na—never; upapadyate—to be performed; mohāt—deluded; tasya—of that; parityāgaḥ—renunciation; tāmasaḥ—in the mode of ignorance; parikīrtitaḥ—has been declared

Translation:

Verily, the renunciation of obligatory action (prescribed by the Sastras) is not proper; the abandoning of the same from delusion is declared to be Tamasic (renunciation).

Commentary:

The duties of man prescribed by the Sastras are intended for the uplift and welfare of mankind in their moral and spiritual life. So, they should not be abandoned. To renounce them by delusion is wrong. When the mind of the Jiva is overcast by the clouds of ignorance such thoughts like abandoning Sastraic injunctions come to him. The Lord has already declared that the Sastras are, the authority about what ought to be done and what ought not to be done (17-28). Whatever May be the cause, ignorance, negligence, or laziness abandoning the obligatory acts of the Sastras is Tamasic Tyaga.

It is to be noted that formerly when the Lord has explained the threefold Yajna, Dana etc. he followed the order-Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. But here the order is reversed, and Tamasic Tyaga is first mentioned. The idea evidently is that the Lord wants first to condemn Tamasic and Rajasic Tyaga, before he comes to the sattvic type as the most worthy to be followed.

Question: What is the nature of Tamasic Tyaga?

Answer: It proceeds from delusion, which causes the abandoning of obligatory action by ignorance.

Question: Why do people abandon Nityakarma?

Answer: Out of ignorance (mohat).

Question: What type of men are they who abandon obligatory duties?

Answer: They are deluded and ignorant men. 

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 18 🔻 (78 Verses)

01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70
71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78