Shloka 9

Adhyāya 39 — त्रिगुणविवेकः (Discrimination of the Three Guṇas) and Avyakta-Doctrine

Devanagari script

सत्त्वं वैकारिकी योनिरिन्द्रियाणां प्रकाशिका । न हि सत्त्वातू परो धर्म: कश्चिदन्यो विधीयते,सत्त्वगुण इन्द्रियोंकी उत्पत्तिका कारण है, उसे वैकारिक हेतु मानते हैं। वह इन्द्रियों और उनके विषयोंको प्रकाशित करनेवाला है। सत्त्वमुणसे बढ़कर दूसरा कोई धर्म नहीं बताया गया है

Transliteration

sattvaṁ vaikārikī yonir indriyāṇāṁ prakāśikā | na hi sattvāt paro dharmaḥ kaścid anyo vidhīyate ||

Translation

Vāyu sprach: „Sattva ist der verwandelnde (vaikārika) Ursprung, aus dem die Sinne hervorgehen; es ist das, was die Sinne erleuchtet und ihre Gegenstände offenbar macht. Wahrlich, kein anderes Dharma ist als höher denn Sattva geboten.“

Word by Word

सत्त्वम्sattva (the quality of goodness/clarity)

वैकारिकीvaikārikī (transformative; pertaining to modification)

योनिःsource, origin, cause

इन्द्रियाणाम्of the senses

प्रकाशिकाilluminating, making manifest

नnot

हिindeed, for

सत्त्वात्than/from sattva

उindeed (emphatic particle)

परःhigher, superior

धर्मःdharma, principle, property

कश्चित्any (someone/anything)

अन्यःother

विधीयतेis prescribed/ordained

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

sattva-guṇa

indriyas (senses)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse elevates sattva—clarity and purity of mind—as the highest ethical principle: it is the luminous condition that both gives rise to refined sense-functioning and enables right discernment, so no higher dharma is taught than cultivating sattva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Ashvamedhika Parva, Vāyu speaks in a didactic mode, explaining a Sāṅkhya-like account of the guṇas and the senses, emphasizing that sattva is the illuminating source and the supreme standard for righteous living.