Shloka 25
जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः
Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry
प्रवर्तमानं तु रजस्तद्धावेनानुवर्तते | प्रहर्ष: प्रीतिरानन्द: सुखं संशान्तचित्तता
pravartamānaṃ tu rajastaddhāvenānuvartate | praharṣaḥ prītirānandaḥ sukhaṃ saṃśāntacittatā
Bhīṣma said: When rajas (the quality of passion and agitation) becomes active, the mind follows along in that very mode. From it arise exhilaration, fond satisfaction, delight, pleasure, and a seeming calmness of mind—states that can appear wholesome, yet remain conditioned by the same restless impulse.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma explains that when rajas dominates, the mind naturally moves in rajas-like ways and produces pleasant emotions—exhilaration, satisfaction, delight, pleasure, even a kind of calm. The ethical point is to recognize these as guṇa-conditioned states, not automatically signs of true inner freedom or stable virtue.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bhīṣma is teaching about the workings of the guṇas. Here he describes the experiential results that accompany the rise of rajas and how the mind tends to follow that active, passionate current.