Devanagari
पृथक्त्वेन तु यज्ज्ञानं नानाभावान्पृथग्विधान् ।
वेत्ति सर्वेषु भूतेषु तज्ज्ञानं विद्धि राजसम् ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
pṛthaktvena tu yaj jṣānaṁ
nānā-bhāvān pṛthag-vidhān
vetti sarveṣu bhūteṣu
taj jṣānaṁ viddhi rājasam
Synonyms
pṛthaktvena
—
because of division
;
tu
—
but
;
yat
—
which
;
jṣānam
—
knowledge
;
nānā-bhāvān
—
multifarious situations
;
pṛthak-vidhān
—
different
;
vetti
—
knows
;
sarveṣu
—
in all
;
bhūteṣu
—
living entities
;
tat
—
that
;
jṣānam
—
knowledge
;
viddhi
—
must be known
;
rājasam
—
in terms of passion.
Translation
That knowledge by which one sees that in every different body there is a different type of living entity you should understand to be in the mode of passion.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
21. Know that knowledge to be rajasic in nature by which one understands various types of knowledge and various opinions concerning the soul which is claimed to be different in each body it accepts.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
21. Know that knowledge to be of raja guṇa by which one understands various types of knowledge and various opinions concerning a soul presumed to be different in each body it accepts.
Purport
The concept that the material body is the living entity and that with the destruction of the body the consciousness is also destroyed is called knowledge in the mode of passion. According to that knowledge, bodies differ from one another because of the development of different types of consciousness, otherwise there is no separate soul which manifests consciousness. The body is itself the soul, and there is no separate soul beyond the body. According to such knowledge, consciousness is temporary. Or else there are no individual souls, but there is an all-pervading soul, which is full of knowledge, and this body is a manifestation of temporary ignorance. Or beyond this body there is no special individual or supreme soul. All such conceptions are considered products of the mode of passion.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This verse speaks of rajasic knowledge. That knowledge which one sees the soul as different in each body that it accepts, accepting the asuric idea that the soul perishes with the body, with a different soul in every body that arises; that knowledge by which one knows various opinions arising from such asuric scriptures, such as “the soul is the shelter of happiness and distress, the soul is not the shelter of happiness and distress, the soul is unconscious, the soul is conscious, the soul is all pervasive , the soul is atomic, the souls are many, the soul is one” is known as rajasic knowledge.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
This verse speaks of knowledge in the mode of passion. That knowledge which accepts that a different jīva (pṛthaktvena) assumes successive forms of deva, man and other creatures, where the jīva is destroyed with the destruction of each body; that knowledge by which one accepts various types of opinions (nānā vidhān bhāvān),such as Lokāyata, Jain, Buddhist, Māyavāda, or logic, is knowledge in the mode of passion.
Some of the doctrines are: the body is the soul (Lokāyata); the soul is different from the body but the same size as the body (Jain); the ātmā is just momentary knowledge (Buddhist); the ātmā is God, consisting of eternal knowledge alone (Māyāvāda); the ātmā, different from the body, is a conscious, all pervasive entity giving shelter to nine particular qualities (Nyāya philosophy). [Note: The logicians claim that there are innumerable eternal souls, but they are all pervading rather than very small or medium size, since very small objects cannot be perceived by mind, whereas qualities of the soul can be perveived by the mind, and medium sized objects are subject to destruction, whereas the soul is eternal. Therefore it must be huge, all pervading. Accoridng to the logicians, ātmā has fourteen unique qualities. They also admit a Supreme Soul with special qualities. The commentary mentions nava viśeṣa guna. Accordidng to Nyāya there should be fourteen qualities of the soul.]