Shloka 15
तमोगुण-निरूपण
Analysis of Tamas and its Marks
अनार्जवमसंज्ञत्वं कर्म पापमचेतना । गुरुत्वं सन्नभावत्वमवशित्वमवाग्गति:
anārjavam asaṃjñatvaṃ karma pāpam acetanā | gurutvaṃ sannabhāvatvam avaśitvam avāggatiḥ ||
Dijo Vāyu: «La torcedura del ánimo, la falta de conciencia, la acción pecaminosa nacida de la insensatez, la pesadez del espíritu, la condición de aferrarse a lo “realmente existente” y quedar así atado, la impotencia y el curso descendente: éstos son los signos de la decadencia moral que arrastran al ser lejos del sendero noble».
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse lists inner and behavioral traits—dishonesty, heedlessness, sinful action, dullness, inertia, helplessness, and a downward trajectory—as interconnected causes and symptoms of ethical and spiritual degeneration. It warns that when awareness and self-mastery weaken, actions become pāpa and the person’s course tends toward decline.
Vāyudeva is speaking in a didactic mode, enumerating qualities that characterize a fall from noble (ārya) conduct. Rather than describing an external event, the passage functions as moral instruction within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s broader reflective discourse.