Shloka 2

Vidyā–Avidyā and the Twenty-Fifth Principle

Sāṃkhya–Yoga Clarification

Devanagari script

प्रायेण च गृहस्थस्य ममत्वं नाम जायते । सड्जागतं नरश्रेष्ठ भावै राजसतामसै:,नरश्रेष्ठ। गृहस्थ पुरुषको प्रायः राजस और तामस भावोंके संसर्गवश पदार्थ और व्यक्तियोंमें ममता हो जाती है

Transliteration

prāyeṇa ca gṛhasthasya mamatvaṃ nāma jāyate | sañjātaṃ naraśreṣṭha bhāvai rājasa-tāmasaiḥ ||

Translation

Парашара сказал: У домохозяина обычно возникает привязанность, именуемая «моё». О лучший из людей, едва родившись, она питается побуждениями раджаса и тамаса и заставляет человека цепляться за имущество и за людей как за «моих».

Word by Word

प्रायेणgenerally, for the most part

चand

गृहस्थस्यof a householder

ममत्वम्possessiveness, sense of 'mine'

नामindeed, namely

जायतेarises, is born

सञ्जातम्arisen, produced

नरश्रेष्ठO best of men

भावैःby/through states, dispositions

राजसतामसैःby rajasic and tamasic (qualities)

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Parāśara

gṛhastha (householder)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the household life easily gives rise to mamatva—possessive identification with people and things—and that this attachment is strengthened by rajas (passionate striving) and tamas (deluded inertia). Ethical progress therefore requires vigilance and cultivation of sattvic clarity to prevent ‘mine-ness’ from dominating conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Parāśara is instructing a listener addressed as ‘naraśreṣṭha’ about the psychological tendency of householders: living amid family and property commonly triggers possessiveness, which then shapes behavior through rajasic and tamasic dispositions.