Shloka 39
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
स वै यदा सन्त्वगुणेन युक्त- स्तमो व्यपोहन् घटते स्वबुद्धा । स लोहितं वर्णमुपैति नीलान् मनुष्यलोके परिवर्तते च
sa vai yadā sattvaguṇena yuktaḥ tamo vyapohan ghaṭate svabuddhyā | sa lohitaṃ varṇamupaiti nīlān manuṣyaloke parivartate ca ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Lorsque l’être incarné est pourvu de la qualité de sattva, il écarte, par son propre discernement, les impulsions de tamas et s’efforce pour son bien suprême. Quand sattva s’accroît, il atteint l’état “rouge” (une condition plus élevée, liée à la grâce) ; mais lorsque sattva demeure déficient, il prend l’état “bleu” et continue de tourner dans les naissances et les morts du monde des hommes. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cultivating sattva (clarity and harmony) enables the jīva to remove tamasic tendencies through discernment and purposeful effort; increased sattva elevates one’s state, while deficiency of sattva keeps one bound to recurring human birth.
In Bhishma’s instruction on conduct and inner qualities, he describes how the soul’s condition changes according to the dominance of the guṇas: with sattva it overcomes tamas and rises to a higher state, but with incomplete sattva it remains in a lower condition and continues cycling in the human realm.