Shloka 10
उशनसः (शुक्रस्य) चरितम् — The Account of Uśanā (Śukra): Yoga, Grievance, and Pacification
तथा कर्मफलैदेंही र|ज्जितस्तमसा55वृत: । विवर्णों वर्णमश्रित्य देहेषु परिवर्तते
tathā karmaphalaiḥ dehī rañjitas tamasāvṛtaḥ | vivarṇo varṇam āśritya deheṣu parivartate ||
ビーシュマは言った。「同じように、身を帯びた自己は、業の果に染められ、闇（無明）に覆われている。自己は無色であるのに、ある状態に依ることで『色』を帯びたかのようになり、かくして諸々の身体を巡って転変し続ける。闇を含む風が赤や黄の粉に入り、それらの色で四方を染めるかのように見えるように、本来無色の自己も、タマスに覆われ業果に染まると、さまざまな身体の性質と務めを引き受け、あらゆる生きものの身のあいだをさまようのである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The self is intrinsically unqualified ("colorless"), but ignorance (tamas) veils it and karma’s results stain it, making it appear to take on particular qualities and roles; this drives its repeated movement through different bodies (saṃsāra).
Bhishma is instructing on the metaphysics of rebirth: he uses an analogy of wind darkened by contact with colored powders to explain how the jīva, though pure in itself, seems to acquire attributes through ignorance and karmic conditioning and thus cycles through embodiments.