Shloka 14
जनकस्य मोक्षमार्गप्रश्नः तथा पञ्चशिखोपदेश-प्रस्तावः | Janaka’s Path to Liberation: Prelude to Pañcaśikha’s Instruction
नच तै: स्पृश्यते भावैर्न ते तेन महात्मना | सरजस्को5रजस्कश्न नैव वायुर्भवेद् यथा
na ca taiḥ spṛśyate bhāvair na te tena mahātmanā | sa-rajasko 'rajaskaś ca naiva vāyur bhaved yathā ||
毗湿摩说道：“大我不为诸种状态所触染，亦不全然为其所界定。譬如风行于尘埃飞扬之中，实不为尘所污；然就世用而言，亦难称其绝对不触。个我亦复如是：其本性不为罗阇斯、怛摩斯等所染，然而在具身之生中，却因其作用而显得与之相连。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self (ātman) is intrinsically beyond the guṇas and their moods (rajas, tamas, etc.). It is not essentially stained by them, though in embodied experience it seems associated with them through their observable effects—like wind amid dust.
In Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on liberation-oriented ethics and self-knowledge. Here he uses the analogy of wind and dust to clarify how the Self relates to mental qualities: appearing connected, yet not truly contaminated.