Shloka 28
Śakra–Namuci-saṃvāda: Śoka-nivāraṇa and Daiva-vicāra
Indra and Namuci on grief, composure, and inevitability
असंतोष, संताप, शोक, लोभ और असहनशीलता--ये किसी कारणसे हों या अकारण -रजोगुणके चिह्न हैं |। अविवेकस्तथा मोह: प्रमाद: स्वप्नतन्द्रिता । कथंचिदपि वर्तन्ते विविधास्तामसा गुणा:
asantoṣaḥ santāpaḥ śoko lobhaś cāsahiṣṇutā—ete kāraṇato ’kāraṇato vā rajoguṇasya liṅgāni | avivekas tathā mohaḥ pramādaḥ svapna-tandritā | kathaṃcid api vartante vividhās tāmasā guṇāḥ ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Bất mãn, bức bối nội tâm, sầu khổ, tham lam và bất dung—dù có nguyên nhân hay không—là dấu hiệu của rajas. Cũng vậy, thiếu phân biệt, mê muội, buông thả, và cơn lịm ngủ uể oải: những khuynh hướng tāmasika (tamas) ấy cứ hiện ra theo nhiều cách, ngay cả khi không có lý do rõ ràng.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches diagnostic self-knowledge: discontent, distress, grief, greed, and intolerance indicate rajas, while non-discrimination, delusion, heedlessness, and torpor indicate tamas. By identifying these as guṇa-driven states, one can restrain them and cultivate steadier, more dharmic conduct.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma continues a didactic discussion on the guṇas (rajas and tamas), listing their observable psychological and ethical symptoms to guide the king’s governance of self and realm.