Shloka 1
Adhyāya 39 — त्रिगुणविवेकः (Discrimination of the Three Guṇas) and Avyakta-Doctrine
ऑपनआ कराता बछ। 5 एकोनचत्वारिशोड् ध्याय: सत्त्व आदि गुणोंका और प्रकृतिके नामोंका वर्णन ब्रह्मोवाच नैव शक््या गुणा वक्तुं पृथक्त्वेनैव सर्वश: । अविच्छिन्नानि दृश्यन्ते रज: सत्त्वं तमस्तथा,ब्रह्माजीने कहा--महर्षियो! सत्त्व, रज और तम--इन गुणोंका सर्वथा पृथक्रूपसे वर्णन करना असम्भव है; क्योंकि ये तीनों गुण अविच्छिन्न (मिले हुए) देखे जाते हैं
brahmovāca—naiva śakyā guṇā vaktuṁ pṛthaktvenaiva sarvaśaḥ | avicchinnāni dṛśyante rajaḥ sattvaṁ tamas tathā ||
Brahmā said: “O sages, it is not truly possible to describe the guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—completely as separate and isolated from one another. For in lived experience they are seen as continuous and intermingled, with rajas, sattva, and tamas appearing together.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The three guṇas cannot be cleanly separated in description or in experience; they function as interwoven constituents of prakṛti, so ethical and psychological states usually contain mixed elements of clarity (sattva), activity (rajas), and inertia (tamas).
In a doctrinal discourse, Brahmā addresses sages and begins explaining the nature of prakṛti and its guṇas, emphasizing at the outset that sattva, rajas, and tamas are observed as blended rather than as wholly distinct entities.