Shloka 27
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
अभिमन्यत्यसम्बोधात् तथैव त्रिविधान् गुणान् । सत्त्वं रजस्तमश्लैव धर्मार्थो काम एव च
abhimanyaty asambodhāt tathaiva trividhān guṇān | sattvaṁ rajas tamaś caiva dharmārtho kāma eva ca ||
अभिमन्यत्यसम्बोधात् तथैव त्रिविधान् गुणान् । सत्त्वं रजस्तमश्चैव धर्मार्थौ काम एव च ॥
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Misidentification (abhimāna) arises from lack of true understanding: one takes the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) and even the legitimate human aims (dharma, artha, kāma) to be the Self. Ethical freedom begins with discernment—seeing these as mutable conditions and pursuits, not one’s essential identity.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a reflective, philosophical mode typical of the Śānti Parva: he diagnoses the root of bondage as confusion about the Self, explaining how people project ‘I’ onto the guṇas and onto worldly goals such as duty, prosperity, and pleasure.