"विनाशकाले विपरीत बुद्धिः" is a very popular quotation from Sanskrit language, which were often used in our day to day life. When translated to English it comes to "as doom approaches, intellect works against its best interest" or "when destruction is near, one's judgment is impaired". It means that when someone's downfall is imminent, they often make poor decisions or act irrationally. The complete verses in Sanskrit stands as :
न भूतपूर्वं न कदापि वार्ता हेम्नः कुरंगः कदापि न दृष्टः |
तथापि तृष्णा रघुनन्दनस्य विनाशकाले विपरीत बुद्धिः ||
Na bhootpoorvah na kadaapi vaartaa hemnh kurangh kadaapi na drushtah
Tathaapi trushna Raghunandanasya vinaashkaale vipreet buddhih
Na = not.
Bhootpoorva = that happened in the past.
Kadaapi = ever.
Vaarta = talk, heard about.
Hemnah = Gold, golden in color.
Kurangh = a deer.
Drushtah = seen.
Tathapi = but still.
Raghunandanasya = Lord Rama's. (Lord Rama was born in the dynasty of King Raghu. So, Raghunandan means a person who adored the dynasty of King Raghu. It is one of the names of Shri Rama.)
Vinaash = getting extinct, disappearance.
Kaal = time.
Vinaash kaal = a period of Time not in favour of a person and there is danger of extinction
Vipreet = not right.
Buddhi = intellect, mental ability to differentiate what is right and what is wrong.
Vipreet buddhi = taking wrong decisions
It had never happened before, nor had anyone heard about or seen a golden deer. But still Lord Rama craved for hunting it (with disastrous consequence of his consort Sita's abduction by Ravana). That is why it is said that when the Time is not in favour of a person, his intellect becomes haywire and he takes wrong decisions.
People fail to judge situations and others correctly, leading to their own destruction, due to factors like emotional biases, lack of critical thinking, and clinging to preconceived notions. Strong emotions, such as fear, anger, or pride, can cloud judgment and lead to impulsive decisions that ultimately cause harm. Excessive confidence in one's own abilities or knowledge can lead to taking unnecessary risks and making poor judgments that have devastating consequences.