“Anger clouds the mind. A clouded mind forgets what it knows. When memory slips, good judgement goes, and without judgement we lose our way.”

What anger does to a clear mind

Yesterday’s verse showed how anger is born. Today Lord Krishna shows where it leads, link by link.

Krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ: from anger comes sammoha, confusion, a fog over the mind. From that fog comes smṛti-vibhrama, the slipping of memory: we forget what we know, what we value, even that we love the person in front of us. When memory goes, buddhi, our power of good judgement, is lost. And without judgement, Lord Krishna says, we lose our way.

Anyone who has said something in anger and regretted it a minute later knows this verse is true. The words came out while the “knowing” part of us was switched off.

The lesson isn’t “never feel angry”. Feelings come. The lesson is: don’t decide anything inside the fog. Wait until it lifts.

For a student: don’t send the message while you’re still upset. Write it, then sleep on it. For a parent: it’s fine to say, “I’m too cross to talk well right now. Let’s talk in ten minutes.” At work: a decision made in anger usually needs undoing later.

For kids: “When I’m angry, my thinking gets foggy. I wait for the fog to clear.”