Shloka 36
Śakra–Namuci-saṃvāda: Śoka-nivāraṇa and Daiva-vicāra
Indra and Namuci on grief, composure, and inevitability
इन्द्रियाण्यपि सूक्ष्माणि दृष्ट््वा पूर्वश्रुतागमात् । चिन्तयन्नानुपर्येति त्रिभिरेवान्वितो गुणै:,पहले जाग्रत-अवस्थाके देखने-सुनने आदिके द्वारा पूर्ववासनावश शब्द आदि विषयोंकी प्राप्ति होनेसे स्वप्नदर्शी पुरुष सूक्ष्म ग्यारह इन्द्रियोंको देखकर विषयसंगकी भावना करता हुआ सत्त्व आदि तीनों गुणोंसे युक्त हो शरीरके भीतर ही इच्छानुसार घूमता रहता है
indriyāṇy api sūkṣmāṇi dṛṣṭvā pūrvaśrutāgamāt | cintayann ānuparyeti tribhir evānvito guṇaiḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “By the authority of teachings heard before, the dream-experiencer discerns even the subtle sense-faculties. While imagining and brooding over objects of sense, he moves about within the body itself as he wills, accompanied by the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in dream, experience is driven by subtle sense-faculties and prior impressions, and it is colored by the three guṇas. Hence ethical self-cultivation requires guarding sense-contact and training thought, because inner wandering continues even without external objects.
Bhīṣma is explaining to his listener a psychological-metaphysical account of the dreamer: the dream-experiencer, influenced by earlier learned doctrine and by the guṇas, mentally follows sense-objects and ‘roams’ within the body, constructing experience from subtle faculties and impressions.