Shloka 62
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
ज्ञानयोगेन सांख्येन व्यापिना महता नृप । राजसानशुभान् गन्धांस्तामसांश्व॒ तथाविधान्
jñānayogena sāṅkhyena vyāpinā mahatā nṛpa | rājasān aśubhān gandhāṁs tāmasāṁś ca tathāvidhān ||
Bhishma said: “O king, by the great, all-pervading Sāṅkhya grounded in the Yoga of knowledge, the wise discern in truth the unwholesome ‘scents’ (tendencies) born of rajas and the like-born tendencies of tamas. Seeing the world through the power of comprehensive insight as perishable like foam on water—veiled by countless māyās of Viṣṇu, insubstantial like a painted image on a wall, terrifying like a dark pit, momentary like rain-bubbles, joyless, dependent, near to ruin, and sunk in rajas and tamas like an elephant trapped in mire—they quickly cut off attachment to progeny and other bonds, severing both the inauspicious rajasic-tamasic impulses and even the attractive, refined sāttvic allurements, by the weapon of discrimination, supported by the discipline of austerity.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Through Sāṅkhya-based knowledge (jñānayoga), one should recognize the subtle impulses of rajas and tamas as ethically harmful and see worldly existence as fragile and deceptive; with austerity and discrimination, one must cut attachment—even to seemingly ‘good’ sattvic refinements—so that liberation is not obstructed by any clinging.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on liberation-oriented dharma. Here he describes how the truly wise analyze the guṇas and the world’s insubstantiality, then actively sever attachments using disciplined practice and discernment.