Shloka 5
Rajo-guṇa-nirdeśa — Brahmā’s Enumeration of Rajasic Dispositions
उग्र॑ं दारुणमाक्रोश: परच्छिद्रानुशासनम् । लोकचिन्तानुचिन्ता च मत्सर: परिभावन:
ugraṁ dāruṇam ākrośaḥ parachidrānuśāsanam | lokacintānucintā ca matsaraḥ paribhāvanaḥ ||
Vāyu said: “Harsh and cruel abuse, the habit of policing others’ faults, anxious brooding over worldly concerns, jealousy, and the tendency to belittle—these are the dispositions that corrode a person’s character and undermine righteous conduct.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns against inner vices expressed through speech and attitude—harsh reviling, fault-finding, worldly brooding, jealousy, and contempt—because they erode one’s moral life (dharma) and damage relationships.
Vāyudeva is speaking in a didactic mode, listing negative traits to be avoided, functioning as moral instruction within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s broader post-war ethical reflections.