Shloka 52
निर्मुक्तस्य रजोरूपान्नापराधो भवेन्मम | यथा हि शून्यां पथिक: सभामध्यावसेत् पथि,“मैं रजोगुणसे मुक्ता हूँ; अतः मेरे द्वारा कोई अपराध नहीं हो सकता, जैसे राह चलनेवाला बटोही कभी किसी सूनी धर्मशालामें ठहर जाता है उसी प्रकार आज मैं सावधान होकर गुरुपत्नीके शरीरमें निवास करूँगा। इसी तरह इसके शरीरमें मेरा निवास हो सकेगा”
nirmuktasya rajorūpān nāparādho bhaven mama | yathā hi śūnyāṃ pathikaḥ sabhāmadhyāvased pathi |
Bhishma said: “Since I am freed from the forms of rajas (passion and agitation), no fault can accrue to me. Just as a traveler on the road may, without attachment, rest in an empty lodging, so too—remaining vigilant—I shall enter and abide in the body of the teacher’s wife, in such a way that my presence there is possible.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Freedom from rajas (passionate agitation) is presented as a safeguard against ethical fault: when action is undertaken without desire, possessiveness, or self-serving impulse, it is less likely to generate culpability. The verse uses an analogy of a traveler resting briefly in an empty place to illustrate non-attachment and temporary, duty-bound presence.
Bhishma explains his intention to enter and reside in another’s body—specifically the guru’s wife—while claiming inner detachment and vigilance. He frames this extraordinary act as ethically non-culpable due to his freedom from rajas, likening it to a traveler taking temporary shelter without ownership or attachment.