Shloka 4

तमोगुण-निरूपण

Analysis of Tamas and its Marks

Devanagari script

तमो रजस्तथा सत्त्वं गुणानेतान्‌ प्रचक्षते । अन्योन्यमि थुना: सर्वे तथान्योन्यानुजीविन:,सत्त्व, रज और तम--इन तीनोंको गुण कहते हैं। ये परस्पर एक-दूसरेके प्रतिद्वन्द्दी, एक-दूसरेके आश्रित, एक-दूसरेके सहारे टिकनेवाले, एक-दूसरेका अनुसरण करनेवाले और परस्पर मिश्रित रहनेवाले हैं। पाँचों महाभूत त्रिगुणात्मक हैं

Transliteration

tamo rajastathā sattvaṃ guṇān etān pracakṣate | anyonyamithunāḥ sarve tathānyonyānujīvinaḥ ||

Translation

વાયુએ કહ્યું—“તમસ, રજસ અને સત્ત્વ—આ ત્રણને ગુણ કહે છે. એ બધા પરસ્પર વિરોધી હોવા છતાં એકબીજાપર આધારિત છે; એકબીજાના સહારે ટકેલા છે; એકબીજાનું અનુસરણ કરે છે અને પરસ્પર મિશ્રિત રહે છે.”

Word by Word

• {'tamas (tamaḥ)': 'darkness, inertia, obscuration', 'rajas': 'passion, activity, restlessness, drive', 'sattva': 'clarity, balance, lucidity, goodness', 'guṇa': 'constituent quality of prakṛti

• binding strand/attribute', 'etān': 'these (accusative plural)', 'pracakṣate': 'they are declared/called

• one designates', 'anyonya': 'mutual, one another', 'mithuna': 'paired

• in combination (here: mutually conjoined/entangled)', 'sarve': 'all (of them)', 'anyonya-anujīvin': 'living by/depending on one another

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• tamas
• rajas
• sattva
• guṇas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the three guṇas—tamas, rajas, and sattva—define the constitution of embodied nature and are not isolated forces: they oppose one another yet remain mutually dependent and mixed, shaping conduct and moral disposition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a doctrinal explanation of prakṛti’s three guṇas, emphasizing their mutual rivalry and mutual support as a framework for understanding behavior and inner states.