Shloka 28
Vimokṣa-niścaya: Pañcaśikha’s Analysis of Aggregates, Guṇas, and Tyāga (मोक्षनिर्णयः)
राजसं तामसं चैव शुद्धात्मकममकल्मषम् । तत् सर्व देहिनां बीज॑ सत्त्वमात्मवत: समम्,यद्यपि रजोगुण, तमोगुण तथा काम, मोह आदि दोषोंसे रहित शुद्ध सत्त्वमुण--ये तीनों ही देहधारियोंकी देहकी उत्पत्तिके मूल कारण हैं, तथापि जिसने अपने मनको वशमें कर लिया है, उस पुरुषके लिये सत्त्वगुण ही समताका साधन है
rājasaṃ tāmasaṃ caiva śuddhātmakam amakalmaṣam | tat sarvaṃ dehināṃ bījaṃ sattvam ātmavataḥ samam ||
Bhishma said: ‘Rajas, tamas, and also the pure, stainless sattva—these are all the seed-causes for embodied beings (the basis from which embodied life and its conditions arise). Yet for the self-controlled person, sattva alone becomes the means to evenness of mind and balance.’
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Though rajas, tamas, and pure sattva all function as causal ‘seeds’ shaping embodied existence, the person who has mastered the mind should cultivate sattva, because it supports samatā—inner balance, clarity, and ethical steadiness.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira by explaining the role of the three guṇas in embodied life and highlighting sattva as the practical foundation for equanimity in a self-controlled person.