Shloka 28
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
'सत्त्व, रज और तम--ये तीन गुण बताये जाते हैं, जो सम्पूर्ण शरीरोंमें स्थित रहते हैं और विचरते हैं ।। एतान् गुणांस्तु क्षेत्रज्ो भुड्क्ते नैभि: स भुज्यते | निर्गुणो गुणभुक् चैव गुणस्रष्टा गुणाधिक:,“इन गुणोंको क्षेत्रज्ञ स्वयं भोगता है, किंतु इन गुणोंके द्वारा वह क्षेत्रज्ञ भोगा नहीं जाता; क्योंकि वह निर्गुण, गुणोंका भोक्ता, गुणोंका स्रष्टा तथा गुणोंसे उत्कृष्ट है
sattva-rajas-tamaḥ—ime trayo guṇāḥ procyante, ye sarva-śarīreṣu tiṣṭhanti vicarante ca. etān guṇāṁs tu kṣetrajño bhuṅkte; na ebhiḥ sa bhujyate; nirguṇo guṇa-bhuk caiva guṇa-sraṣṭā guṇādhikaḥ.
Bhishma said: Sattva, rajas, and tamas are declared to be the three qualities; they abide in all embodied beings and move about within them. Yet it is the Knower of the Field (the conscious self) who experiences these qualities; the self is not itself experienced or overpowered by them. For the self is beyond qualities—an experiencer of the qualities, the source from which their play is projected, and superior to them all.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) operate in all embodied life, but the conscious self (kṣetrajña) is distinct from them: it witnesses and experiences their effects without being reducible to them. Recognizing this distinction supports inner freedom and ethical steadiness, since one learns to govern the guṇas rather than be driven by them.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on peace and right understanding, Bhishma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira about the nature of the self and the workings of prakṛti. Here he explains how the three guṇas pervade embodied existence while the kṣetrajña remains transcendent, framing a contemplative basis for dharma after the war.