Shloka 14
Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)
पाप्मानं निर्दहेदेवमन्तर्भूतरजोमयम् । ज्ञानयुक्तेन मनसा संततेन विचक्षण:,विवेकी पुरुषको इस प्रकार ज्ञानयुक्त एवं संयमशील मनके द्वारा अपने अन्तःकरणमें प्रकट हुए पापमय कामविकारको दग्ध कर देना चाहिये
pāpmānaṁ nirdahen manasāntarbhūta-rajo-mayam | jñāna-yuktena manasā santatena vicakṣaṇaḥ ||
Bhishma said: A discerning and self-controlled person should burn away the inner sin—born of rajas and arising within the mind—by means of a mind steadily united with knowledge. When passion-driven impulses manifest in the heart, one should consume them through continuous, lucid awareness and disciplined understanding.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When passion (rajas) produces sinful impulses within, one should not indulge them but destroy them through a mind steadily grounded in knowledge—continuous awareness, discrimination, and disciplined self-restraint.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bhishma advises the listener that ethical life depends on inner purification: the wise person uses sustained, knowledge-based mental focus to burn away rajas-born faults as they arise.