Chapter XVIII · Śloka 35
यया स्वप्नं भयं शोकं विषादं मदमेव च |
न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेधा धृतिः सा पार्थ तामसी ||
न विमुञ्चति दुर्मेधा धृतिः सा पार्थ तामसी ||
yayā svapnaṃ bhayaṃ śokaṃ viṣādaṃ madam eva ca |
na vimuñcati durmedhā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī ||
na vimuñcati durmedhā dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī ||
That steadfastness by which a dull-witted person does not give up sleep, fear, grief, depression, and arrogance — that steadfastness, O Pārtha, is tāmasic.
Tāmasic resolve is really the absence of resolve — a stubborn clinging to the very states that prevent awakening: sloth, anxiety, sorrow, despair, and vanity. What masquerades as determination is merely the inertia of suffering.