Shloka 24
कामद्रुम-रूपकः तथा शरीर-पुर-रूपकः
The Desire-Tree and the Body-as-City Metaphors
अभिमानो मृषावादो लोभो मोहस्तथाक्षमा | लिज्ञरानि रजसस्तानि वर्तन्ते हेत्वहेतुत:
abhimāno mṛṣāvādo lobho mohastathākṣamā | liṅgāni rajasastāni vartante hetvahetutaḥ ||
Vyāsa explains that certain inner faults are unmistakable marks of the rajas quality: self-conceit, false speech, greed, delusion, and intolerance. Whether these arise from an evident cause or appear without any clear cause, their presence in a person’s conduct reveals the dominance of rajas—showing a mind driven by agitation rather than clarity and restraint.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
These five faults—egoism, lying, greed, delusion, and intolerance—are presented as diagnostic signs of rajas. Their appearance, whether triggered by circumstances or arising spontaneously, indicates a mind dominated by passion and agitation rather than sattva (clarity) and restraint.
In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is characterizing the guṇas by their observable symptoms. Here he identifies behaviors and mental tendencies that reveal rajas, guiding the listener toward ethical self-assessment and cultivation of steadiness and truth.