Shloka 1
Adhyāya 314 — हिमवदाश्रमः, शक्तिक्षेपकथा, तथा स्वाध्यायविधिः
Himalayan Hermitage, the Myth of the Thrown Spear, and Rules of Vedic Study
अपन काता बछ। 2 चतुर्दशाधिकत्रिशततमो< ध्याय: सात्त्विक
yājñavalkya uvāca | ete pradhānasya guṇās trayaḥ puruṣasattama | kṛtsnasya caiva jagatas tiṣṭhanty anapagāḥ sadā ||
Yājñavalkya nói: “Hỡi bậc ưu tú trong loài người, ba phẩm tính của Prakṛti nguyên sơ—sattva, rajas và tamas—vốn thường hằng an trụ. Chúng thấm khắp toàn thể vũ trụ và chưa từng rời lìa khỏi đó.”
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The universe is continually constituted by the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—understood as inseparable modes of Pradhāna (primordial Nature). Ethical and spiritual progress is framed as understanding and regulating these modes rather than imagining a world free of them.
In the Shānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya begins an explanation (in response to a royal interlocutor, traditionally Janaka in this section) by stating the foundational principle that the three guṇas pervade all beings and the entire cosmos at all times.