Shloka 2

कार्त्तिकेय-जन्मोपक्रमः

Prelude to the Birth of Kārttikeya/Skanda

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मण उवाच सत्त्वस्य रजसश्वैव तमसश्न यथातथम्‌ । गुणांस्तत्त्वेन मे ब्रूहि यथावदिह पृच्छत:,ब्राह्मण बोला--्याध! मैं यहाँ यथोचितरूपसे एक प्रश्न उपस्थित करता हूँ। वह यह है कि सत्त्व, रज और तमका गुण (स्वरूप) क्या है? यह मुझे यथार्थरूपसे बताओ

Transliteration

brāhmaṇa uvāca sattvasya rajasas caiva tamasaś ca yathātatham | guṇāṁs tattvena me brūhi yathāvad iha pṛcchataḥ ||

Translation

Der Brāhmaṇa sprach: „Sage mir, wie sie in Wahrheit sind, die Eigenschaften von sattva, rajas und tamas. Da ich hier in gebührender Weise frage, erkläre mir ihre wirkliche Natur genau.“

Word by Word

• {'brāhmaṇaḥ': 'a Brahmin

• here, the questioner', 'uvāca': 'said

• spoke', 'sattvasya': 'of sattva

• the quality of clarity, balance, and lucidity', 'rajasaḥ': 'of rajas

• the quality of passion, activity, and restlessness', 'tamasaḥ': 'of tamas

• the quality of inertia, darkness, and delusion', 'ca eva': 'and indeed

• and also', 'yathātatham': 'as it really is

• in accordance with the true state', 'guṇān': 'qualities

• constituent modes of nature/character', 'tattvena': 'in truth

• according to reality/essence', 'me': 'to me', 'brūhi': 'tell

• explain', 'yathāvat': 'properly

• in due form', 'iha': 'here

• in this context', 'pṛcchataḥ': 'of one who asks

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brāhmaṇa)
• सत्त्व (Sattva)
• रजस् (Rajas)
• तमस् (Tamas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a disciplined inquiry into the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—asking for their true characteristics. Ethically, it signals that right conduct and right understanding depend on discerning the inner qualities that drive thought and action.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin, in dialogue with a teacher-figure (contextually the Dharma-vyādha episode), formally poses a question: he requests an accurate description of the nature of the three guṇas, setting up the subsequent instruction.