Shloka 17
Adhyāya 41 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Gurv-anumati and Strategic Counsel (युधिष्ठिरस्य गुर्वनुमतिः)
सम्बन्ध--ग्यारहवें. बारहवें और तेरहवें शलोकोरमें सत्व, रज और तमोगुणकी वृद्धिके लक्षणोंका क्रमसे वर्णन किया गया; इसपर यह जाननेकी इच्छा होती है कि ज्ञान” आदिकी उत्पत्तिको सत्त्त आदि गुणोंकी वृद्धिके लक्षण क्यों माना गया। अतएव कार्यकी उत्पत्तिये कारणकी सत्ताको जान लेनेके लिये ज्ञान आदिकी उत्पत्तिगें सत्त आदि गुणोंको कारण बतलाते हैं-- सत्त्वात् संजायते ज्ञानं रजसो लोभ एव च | प्रमादमोहौ तमसो भवतोऊज्ञानमेव च,सत्त्वगुणसे ज्ञानः उत्पन्न होता है और रजोगुणसे निस्संदेह लोभः तथा तमोगुणसे प्रमाद और मोह उत्पन्न होते हैं और अज्ञान भी होता है
sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṁ rajaso lobha eva ca | pramāda-mohau tamaso bhavato ’jñānam eva ca ||
Arjuna said: From sattva arises clear knowledge; from rajas, craving and grasping surely arise; and from tamas are born heedlessness and delusion—indeed, ignorance itself. Ethically, the verse maps inner moral psychology: clarity supports discernment, passion fuels acquisitiveness, and inertia breeds confusion and negligent conduct.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a causal link between the three guṇas and characteristic mental-ethical outcomes: sattva produces discerning knowledge, rajas produces greed and acquisitive craving, and tamas produces heedlessness, delusion, and ignorance. It functions as a diagnostic of character and conduct.
In the Bhīṣma Parva’s teaching context, Arjuna articulates (or frames) a doctrinal point about how the guṇas manifest in human cognition and behavior, clarifying why the arising of knowledge, greed, and delusion are taken as signs of the increase of sattva, rajas, and tamas respectively.