Shloka 29
Śakra–Namuci-saṃvāda: Śoka-nivāraṇa and Daiva-vicāra
Indra and Namuci on grief, composure, and inevitability
अविवेक, मोह, प्रमाद, स्वप्न और आलस्य--ये किसी तरह भी क्यों न हों, तमोगुणके ही विविध रूप हैं ।। अत्र यत् प्रीतिसंयुक्ते काये मनसि वा भवेत् । वर्तते सात््विको भाव इत्यपेक्षेत तत् तथा,इनमें जो शरीर या मनमें प्रीतिके संयोगसे उदित हो, वह सातक््चिक भाव है और उसको सत्त्वगुणकी वृद्धि जाननी चाहिये
avivekaḥ mohaḥ pramādaḥ svapnaś ca ālasyaṃ ca—ete yathā-kathaṃcid api tamoguṇasyaiva vividha-rūpāṇi. atra yat prīti-saṃyukte kāye manasi vā bhavet, vartate sāttviko bhāva iti apekṣeta tat tathā; etat sattva-guṇa-vṛddhiṃ jānīyāt.
Bhishma explains that lack of discernment, delusion, heedlessness, sleep, and laziness—however they may appear—are all merely different manifestations of tamas, the quality of darkness and inertia. By contrast, whatever state arises in the body or the mind when joined with gladness and inner satisfaction should be regarded as a sāttvika disposition; it is to be understood as an increase of sattva, the quality of clarity.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma classifies certain mental states—non-discrimination, delusion, heedlessness, sleepiness, and laziness—as expressions of tamas (inertia and obscuration). He then gives a practical marker of sattva: a wholesome gladness or inner contentment arising in body or mind indicates a sāttvika disposition and should be taken as growth of clarity and virtue.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues his ethical-psychological teaching by distinguishing the guṇas through observable states of mind and behavior, helping the listener diagnose tamasic decline and recognize sattvic uplift.