Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 15
तमोगुण-निरूपण
Analysis of Tamas and its Marks
अनार्जवमसंज्ञत्वं कर्म पापमचेतना । गुरुत्वं सन्नभावत्वमवशित्वमवाग्गति:
anārjavam asaṃjñatvaṃ karma pāpam acetanā | gurutvaṃ sannabhāvatvam avaśitvam avāggatiḥ ||
वायु ने कहा—कुटिलता, विवेक-शून्यता, अचेतनता से उत्पन्न पापकर्म, मन का भारीपन, बन्धनकारी ‘सन्नभाव’ (अहंभाव-युक्त अस्तित्वबोध), परवशता और अधोगति—ये धर्म-ह्रास के लक्षण हैं, जो प्राणी को सत्पथ से दूर खींच ले जाते हैं।
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.