यया धर्ममधर्मं च कार्यं चाकार्यमेव च ।अयथावत्प्रजानाति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ राजसी ॥
yayā dharmamadharmaṃ ca kāryaṃ cākāryameva ca |ayathāvatprajānāti buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī ||
The intellect by which one understands dharma and adharma, and what should and should not be done, only wrongly and imperfectly — that intellect, O son of Pritha, is rajasic.
Explanation
Krishna is describing three kinds of intellect (buddhi) according to the three qualities (guṇa) of nature. The previous verse described the clear, sattvic intellect. Here the passion-driven (rajasic) intellect is one that mixes up right and wrong, and duty and non-duty, never seeing them as they really are, usually because desire and restlessness cloud its judgment.