नियतस्य तु संन्यासः कर्मणो नोपपद्यते | मोहात्तस्य परित्यागस्तामसः परिकीर्तितः ||
niyatasya tu sannyāsaḥ karmaṇo nopapadyate mohāt tasya parityāgas tāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
Translation
Renunciation of obligatory duties is not proper; the abandonment of obligatory duty out of delusion is declared to be tamasic.
Interpretation
Sannyasa of obligatory duty (niyata karma — actions required by one's station in life) is not appropriate. To abandon one's responsibilities out of moha (delusion, confusion, weakness) — to quit the battlefield because it is difficult, as Arjuna nearly did — is tamasic abandonment. This is a crucial teaching for the Gita's context: Arjuna was about to 'renounce' his duty as a warrior not from enlightened detachment but from emotional collapse. Tamasic renunciation is escapism masquerading as spirituality.