Shloka 13
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
यथा तिलानामिह पुष्पसंश्रयात् पृथक्पृथग्याति गुणो5तिसौम्यताम् । तथा नराणां भुवि भावितात्मनां यथा<<श्रयं सत्त्वगुण: प्रवर्तते
yathā tilānām iha puṣpa-saṁśrayāt pṛthak-pṛthag yāti guṇo ’ti-saumyatām | tathā narāṇāṁ bhuvi bhāvitātmanāṁ yathāśrayaṁ sattva-guṇaḥ pravartate ||
Wie Sesamsamen, die, indem sie bei duftenden Blüten Zuflucht nehmen, jeder auf seine Weise einen überaus lieblichen Duft annehmen, so wird auch auf Erden die Gesinnung der Menschen mit geschultem Geist mit der Qualität von sattva erfüllt – je nach der Gemeinschaft, auf die sie sich stützen.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s inner qualities are strongly shaped by association: as sesame absorbs fragrance from nearby flowers, the cultivated-minded person’s nature becomes sattvic when they rely on the company of the virtuous.
Parāśara is instructing through an analogy, explaining how moral and psychological qualities (especially sattva) arise and strengthen in humans depending on the kind of people and influences they keep close.