Tamas — Inertia, Darkness, Dissolution

Tamas is the guna of aprakasha (darkness), guru (heaviness), and varanaka (obstruction) within Samkhya's analysis of prakriti. The Bhagavad Gita (14.8) defines it: 'Tamas tv ajnanajam viddhi mohanam sarva-dehinam' — know tamas to be born of ignorance, the deluder of all embodied beings, binding through pramada (negligence), alasya (laziness), and nidra (sleep). The Samkhya-karika identifies tamas as the principle of sthiti (stasis) and niyamana (restraint) — the gravitational force that holds form together and resists dissolution. Yet as the Gita (14.18) warns, those established in tamas sink to the lowest births; only when tamas is overcome by sattva through viveka does the jiva begin its ascent toward moksha.

Cross-Tradition Resonances