Shloka 266

Devanagari script

लिज्रानि रजसस्तानि दृश्यन्ते हेत्वहेतुभि: । जब शरीर या मनमें किसी कारणसे या अकारण ही दाह, शोक, संताप, अपूर्णता (लोभ-लिप्सा) और असहनशीलताके भाव दिखायी देते हों तो उन्हें रजोगुणके चिह्न समझना चाहिये

Transliteration

liṅgāni rajasas tāni dṛśyante hetv-ahetubhiḥ |

Translation

Bhishma sprach: Das sind die Kennzeichen der Eigenschaft rajas: Wenn man im Körper oder im Geist brennende Unruhe, Kummer, Qual, ein Gefühl des Mangels, das sich als Gier, Verlangen und Aneignungssucht zeigt, sowie Unverträglichkeit wahrnimmt—sei es aus einem Grund oder sogar ohne erkennbaren Grund—so soll man dies als Zeichen von rajas verstehen.

Word by Word

लिङ्गानिsigns, marks

रजसःof rajas (the rajas-guṇa)

तानिthose

दृश्यन्तेare seen, appear

हेतुby causes

अहेतुभिःby non-causes / without cause

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

rajas (guṇa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma defines how to recognize rajas in lived experience: agitation and heat in body/mind, sorrow and distress, craving born of a sense of insufficiency, and intolerance. Even when these arise without a clear external trigger, they still indicate the dominance of rajas and thus call for restraint and inner regulation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bhishma continues his analysis of the three guṇas. Here he identifies observable psychological and somatic indicators by which one can diagnose rajas operating within oneself.