Shloka 105
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
अथ द्वादशके तस्मिन् सत्त्वं नामापरो गुण: । महासत्त्वो5ल्पसत्त्वो वा जन्तुर्येनानुमीयते
atha dvādaśake tasmin sattvaṃ nāmāparo guṇaḥ | mahāsattvo 'lpasattvo vā jantur yenānumīyate ||
ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಈಗ ಆ ಹನ್ನೆರಡುಗಳ ಸಮೂಹದಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಸತ್ತ್ವ’ ಎಂಬ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಗುಣವಿದೆ. ಅದರ ಮೂಲಕ ಜೀವಿ ಮಹಾಸತ್ತ್ವವೋ ಅಲ್ಪಸತ್ತ್ವವೋ ಎಂದು ಅನುಮಾನಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma identifies sattva as an additional determining quality: the degree of sattva in a person allows one to judge whether their nature is elevated (mahāsattva) or limited (alpasattva), emphasizing moral-psychological discernment in ethical life.
In the Shanti Parva’s instructional discourse, Bhishma continues a systematic analysis of qualities (guṇas), adding sattva to a previously mentioned twelvefold set and explaining its role as a criterion for assessing beings.