Shloka 10
Adhyāya 39 — त्रिगुणविवेकः (Discrimination of the Three Guṇas) and Avyakta-Doctrine
ऊर्ध्व॑ गच्छन्ति सत्त्वस्था मध्ये तिष्ठन्ति राजसा: । जघन्यगुणसंयुक्ता यान्त्यधस्तामसा जना:,सत्त्वगुणमें स्थित पुरुष स्वर्गादि उच्च लोकोंको जाते हैं, रजोगुणमें स्थित पुरुष मध्यमें अर्थात् मनुष्यलोकमें ही रहते हैं और तमोगुणके कार्यरूप निद्रा, प्रमाद एवं आलस्य आदिकमें स्थित हुए तामस मनुष्य अधोगतिको प्राप्त होते--नीच योनियों अथवा नरकोंमें पड़ते हैं
ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattvasthā madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ | jaghanyaguṇasaṁyuktā yānty adhas tāmasā janāḥ ||
Vāyu said: Those established in sattva rise upward to higher realms; those dominated by rajas remain in the middle, in the human condition; but people bound to the lowest qualities—tamas—fall downward, reaching inferior destinies such as lower births or hellish states. The verse frames moral psychology as a law of consequence: inner disposition shapes one’s trajectory after death and in lived experience.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s dominant guṇa determines their direction: sattva leads upward to higher states, rajas keeps one in the human middle realm, and tamas pulls one downward to inferior conditions. Ethical cultivation is therefore framed as inner refinement—reducing tamas, steadying rajas, and establishing sattva.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener about the consequences of the three guṇas. The statement functions as a doctrinal clarification within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s broader didactic passages, linking character and conduct to post-mortem and existential outcomes.