Sanskrit
नियतस्य तु संन्यासः कर्मणो नोपपद्यते । मोहात्तस्य परित्यागस्तामसः परिकीर्तितः ॥ ७ ॥
niyatasya tu saṃnyāsaḥ karmaṇo nopapadyate mohāt tasya parityāgas tāmasaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
Translation
Verily renunciation of actions that are prescribed is not proper; the relinquishment thereof from delusion is said to be of darkness.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The threefold analysis of tyaga begins with its worst form: giving up a prescribed duty out of confusion or delusion (moha) is tamasic relinquishment, and Krishna calls it flatly improper. This echoes chapter 3’s warning against abandoning one’s ordained work through misunderstanding, and it draws a hard line between renunciation as wisdom and renunciation as avoidance dressed up as wisdom.