Shloka 3
Adhyāya 39 — त्रिगुणविवेकः (Discrimination of the Three Guṇas) and Avyakta-Doctrine
यावत्सत्त्वं रजस्तावद् वर्तते नात्र संशय: । यावत्तमश्न सत्त्वं च रजस्तावदिहोच्यते,इसमें संदेह नहीं कि इस जगत्में जबतक सत्त्वनुण रहता है, तबतक रजोगुण भी रहता है एवं जबतक तमोगुण रहता है, तबतक सत्त्वमुण और रजोगुणकी भी सत्ता रहती है, ऐसा कहते हैं
yāvat sattvaṁ rajas tāvad vartate nātra saṁśayaḥ | yāvat tamaś ca sattvaṁ ca rajas tāvad ihocyate ||
Vāyu said: “So long as sattva endures, rajas also operates—of this there is no doubt. And so long as tamas persists, sattva and rajas too are said to be present in this world.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the interdependence and co-presence of the three guṇas: in embodied worldly life, one guṇa does not stand entirely alone; where sattva is active, rajas accompanies it, and where tamas persists, sattva and rajas are also found. Ethically, it implies that inner cultivation is about shifting proportions (toward sattva) rather than imagining a simple, absolute absence of the other guṇas.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a philosophical explanation of the guṇas, clarifying how they operate together in the world and in living beings, as part of a broader teaching on conduct and inner disposition.