tamas

American  

[tuhm-uhs] / ˈtʌm əs /

noun

Hinduism.

1. guna

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Other Word Forms

• tamasic adjective

Etymology

Origin of tamas

< Sanskrit: darkness

Example Sentences

The city is suffused with a form of darkness that locals call tamas, which “is inseparable from the chthonic energy of Shiva, the city’s presiding deity, and the god of creative dissolution,” Taseer writes.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 30, 2019

It also describes sattva as being light and illuminating, rajas as of the nature of energy and causing motion, and tamas as heavy and obstructing.

From A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 by Dasgupta, Surendranath

The Brahmana said, "Do thou truly describe to me, who now duly ask thee, the respective virtues of the qualities of sattwa, rajas, and tamas."

From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose Vana Parva, Part 2 by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan

When matter is examined, we find three fundamental qualities—rhythm, mobility, stability—sattva, rajas, tamas.

From An Introduction to Yoga by Besant, Annie Wood

To quote his own words: "The germ of the idea ... must be discovered in that nocturnal darkness, that çārvaram tamas, which native mythologists in India had not yet quite forgotten in post-Vedic times."

From Cerberus, The Dog of Hades The History of an Idea by Bloomfield, Maurice