Shloka 12
Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna
Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties
जगत्में जो भी नाना भाव हैं, वे सब-के-सब सात्त्विक, राजस और तामस--इन तीनों भावोंके ही अन्तर्गत हैं। जैसे अरे रथकी नेमिसे जुड़े होते हैं, उसी प्रकार सभी भाव सात्विक आदि गुणोंके अनुगामी हैं ।।
jagat-meṁ yo 'pi nānā-bhāvāḥ santi, te sarve sāttvika-rājasa-tāmasāḥ—eteṣāṁ trīṇāṁ bhāvānām eva antar-gatāḥ. yathā are rathasya neminā saha yuktā bhavanti, tathā sarve bhāvāḥ sāttvikādi-guṇānugāminaḥ. pradīpārthaṁ manaḥ kuryād indriyaiḥ abuddhi-sattamaiḥ; niścaradbhiḥ yathā-yogam udāsīnaiḥ yadṛcchayā; buddhi-rūpa adhiṣṭhāne sthitā udāsīna-bhāvena svabhāva-anusāreṇa yathā-sambhavaṁ viṣayān prati gacchadbhiḥ indriyaiḥ manaḥ pradīpasya kāryaṁ karoti—yathā pradīpaḥ svaprabhyā ghaṭādi-vastūni prakāśayati, tathā manaḥ netrādi-indriyaiḥ ghaṭa-paṭādi-vastūnāṁ darśanaṁ grahaṇaṁ ca kārayati.
Vyāsa said: Whatever diverse states and dispositions exist in the world—all of them fall within the threefold range of sattva, rajas, and tamas. Just as the spokes are fastened to the rim of a chariot-wheel, so every state of mind follows after these qualities. The mind, stationed upon the support that is intellect, functions like a lamp: through the senses—which, by their own nature and as circumstances allow, move toward their objects while remaining inwardly detached—it illuminates experience. As a lamp reveals a pot and other things by its light, so the mind, by means of the eye and the other senses, brings about the seeing and apprehending of objects such as pots and cloth.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
All mental and worldly dispositions are governed by the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—and the mind, supported by intellect, ‘illuminates’ objects through the senses, ideally with an attitude of detachment.
In a didactic passage of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa explains a psychological model: the guṇas underlie all states, and cognition occurs when the mind, seated in buddhi, operates through the senses to reveal and grasp objects—like a lamp revealing forms.