Shloka 29
Śakra–Namuci-saṃvāda: Śoka-nivāraṇa and Daiva-vicāra
Indra and Namuci on grief, composure, and inevitability
अविवेक, मोह, प्रमाद, स्वप्न और आलस्य--ये किसी तरह भी क्यों न हों, तमोगुणके ही विविध रूप हैं ।।
avivekaḥ mohaḥ pramādaḥ svapnaś ca ālasyaṃ ca—ete yathā-kathaṃcid api tamoguṇasyaiva vividha-rūpāṇi. atra yat prīti-saṃyukte kāye manasi vā bhavet, vartate sāttviko bhāva iti apekṣeta tat tathā; etat sattva-guṇa-vṛddhiṃ jānīyāt.
अविवेक, मोह, प्रमाद, स्वप्न आणि आळस—हे जसेही प्रकट झाले तरी—तमोगुणाचीच विविध रूपे आहेत. परंतु देहात किंवा मनात प्रीती व अंतःसंतोष यांच्या संयोगाने जी अवस्था उत्पन्न होते, ती सात्त्विक भाव मानावी; ती सत्त्वगुणाची वाढ समजावी.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma classifies certain mental states—non-discrimination, delusion, heedlessness, sleepiness, and laziness—as expressions of tamas (inertia and obscuration). He then gives a practical marker of sattva: a wholesome gladness or inner contentment arising in body or mind indicates a sāttvika disposition and should be taken as growth of clarity and virtue.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues his ethical-psychological teaching by distinguishing the guṇas through observable states of mind and behavior, helping the listener diagnose tamasic decline and recognize sattvic uplift.