प्रज्ञावानपि पण्डितोऽपि चतुरोऽप्यत्यन्तसूक्ष्मार्थदृ -ग्व्यालीढस्तमसा न वेत्ति बहुधा सम्बोधितोऽपि स्फुटम् ।भ्रान्त्यारोपितमेव साधु कलयत्यालम्बते तद्गुणान्हन्तासौ प्रबला दुरन्ततमसः शक्तिर्महत्यावृतिः ॥ ११६ ॥
In plain words
A person can be wise, learned, sharp-witted, able to see even the subtlest truths - and still, once bitten by tamas, understand nothing at all, no matter how many times or how clearly he is taught. He takes the thing delusion has projected to be real, and clings to its qualities. What a thing this is - the vast, overpowering veiling force of a darkness that seems to have no end.
Close to the Sanskrit
Even one endowed with wisdom, even a scholar, even one clever, even one whose sight perceives the most subtle truths — when bitten by tamas, does not understand, even when clearly instructed many times. He regards as right only what is superimposed by error, and clings to its false qualities. Alas — this is the powerful, immense veiling power of insurmountable darkness.