Shloka 30
भीष्मविक्रमदर्शनं तथा क्रौञ्चारुणव्यूहविधानम् | Bhīṣma’s Ascendancy and the Organization of the Krauñcāruṇa Formation
प्रवृत्ति च निवृत्ति च कार्याकार्ये भया भये । बन्ध॑ मोक्ष च या वेत्ति बुद्धि: सा पार्थ सातक््चिकी,हे पार्थ! जो बुद्धि प्रवृत्तिमार्ग- और निवृत्तिमार्गकोः कर्तव्य और अकर्तव्यको,* भय और अभयको” तथा बन्धन और मोक्षको* यथार्थ जानती है, वह बुद्धि सात््विकी है
pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye | bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī ||
Arjuna sprach: Sāttvika, o Pārtha, ist jene Einsicht (buddhi), die klar den Weg des Tätigwerdens (pravṛtti) und den Weg des Rückzugs (nivṛtti) unterscheidet; was zu tun ist und was nicht zu tun ist; was zu fürchten ist und was nicht; und was zur Bindung führt und was zur Befreiung (mokṣa).
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sāttvika intelligence is the capacity to discern correctly: when to act and when to refrain, what is duty versus non-duty, what is truly fearful versus not, and which choices bind the self versus lead toward liberation.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s Gītā dialogue on the battlefield, the teaching classifies types of understanding by the three guṇas; this verse defines the sāttvika kind as clear moral and spiritual discernment amid the pressures of war and duty.