Shloka 13
धर्मद्वारबहुत्वविमर्शः — Reflection on the Many ‘Doors’ of Dharma (Śānti-parva 342)
अष्टादशगुणं यत् तत् सत्त्वं सत्तववतां वर
aṣṭādaśaguṇaṃ yat tat sattvaṃ sattvavatāṃ vara | tad eva me parā prakṛtir ādi-puruṣaḥ | pṛthivy-ākāśayor ātmā yoga-balena samastān lokān dhārayati | saiva ṛtā satyā amarā ajeyā ca sarva-lokātmeti ||
Arjuna sprach: „O Bester unter den Tugendhaften, jenes ‘Sattva’, das mit achtzehn Eigenschaften begabt ist—wahrlich der uranfängliche Purusha—ist meine höchste Natur. Als das eigentliche Selbst von Erde und Raum trägt es durch die Kraft des Yoga alle Welten. Es ist Ṛtā, die kosmische Ordnung, in der Taten zu ihren Früchten reifen; es ist Satyā, die Wahrheit, die in keiner der drei Zeiten widerlegt wird. Unsterblich und unbesiegbar ist es das innere Selbst aller Wesen und aller Bereiche.“
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies a supreme, luminous principle—called the eighteen-qualified sattva or Ādi-Puruṣa—as the ‘higher Nature’ that sustains the cosmos. It equates ultimate reality with Ṛta (moral-causal order) and Satya (timeless truth), presenting the divine as both the ethical law governing action’s results and the inner Self of all beings.
In the reflective setting of the Śānti Parva, Arjuna speaks in a philosophical register, describing the supreme foundation of existence. Rather than battlefield action, the focus is contemplative: defining the cosmic ground that upholds worlds and underwrites dharma through order (ṛta) and truth (satya).