Shloka 12
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
उष्णीषवान् यथा वस्त्रैस्त्रिभिर्भवति संवृतः । संवृतो5यं तथा देही सत्त्वराजसतामसै:
uṣṇīṣavān yathā vastrais tribhir bhavati saṃvṛtaḥ | saṃvṛto ’yaṃ tathā dehī sattva-rajas-tāmasaiḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : « De même qu’un homme portant un turban est enveloppé de trois vêtements, de même cet être incarné — qui se méprend en se prenant pour le corps — est enveloppé par les trois guṇa : sattva, rajas et tamas. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The embodied self is not pure freedom in practice; it is conditioned and ‘covered’ by the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas. Ethical and spiritual progress involves recognizing this conditioning and cultivating clarity (sattva) while reducing agitation (rajas) and delusion (tamas), ultimately aiming to transcend all three.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and inner discipline. Here he uses a simple clothing analogy—three garments around a turbaned man—to explain how the living being, identified with the body, is wrapped by the three guṇas.