Shloka 14
Jājali’s Austerities and the Summons to Tulādhāra (जाजलि–तुलाधार-इतिहासः)
तत्रैनं विधृतं शून्यं रज: पर्यवतिष्ठते । तनमन: कुरुते सख्यं रजसा सह सड्भतम् | त॑ं चादाय जन॑ पौरं रजसे सम्प्रयच्छति,उस समय रजोगुणजनित काम मनको आत्माके बलसे युक्त होनेपर भी विवेकसे रहित होनेके कारण सब ओरसे घेर लेता है। तब वह कामसे घिरा हुआ मन उस रजोगुणरूप कामके साथ मित्रता स्थापित कर लेता है। उसके बाद वह मन ही उस इन्द्रियरूप पुरवासीजनको रजोगुणजनित कामके हाथमें समर्पित कर देता है (जैसे राजाका विरोधी मन्त्री राज्य और प्रजाको शत्रुके हाथमें सौंप देता है)
tatrainaṁ vidhṛtaṁ śūnyaṁ rajaḥ paryavatiṣṭhate | tan manaḥ kurute sakhyaṁ rajasā saha saṅgatam || taṁ cādāya janaṁ pauraṁ rajase samprayacchati ||
There, when the mind—though upheld by the strength of the Self—stands empty of discernment, the quality of passion (rajas) surrounds it and takes possession. Ensnared by desire born of rajas, that mind then makes an alliance with passion itself. Thereafter the mind, taking along the “citizens of the city”—the senses—hands them over to rajas, as though a treacherous minister were to deliver a kingdom and its people into the enemy’s hands. The moral warning is plain: when discrimination fails, desire captures the mind, and the senses become instruments of passion rather than servants of dharma.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
When the mind lacks discernment (viveka), rajas-driven desire surrounds it; the mind then allies with passion and effectively hands the senses over to desire. Ethical life requires guarding discrimination so the senses remain governed by dharma rather than by craving.
Vyāsa describes an inner psychological sequence: rajas encircles an undiscerning mind; the mind becomes friendly with rajas; then the mind delivers the ‘city’s citizens’—the senses—into rajas’ control, like a traitorous minister surrendering a kingdom to an enemy.