Shloka 45

Devanagari script

सत्त्वसंसेवनाद धीरो निद्रामुच्छेत्तुमरहति । विद्वानोंने योगके जो काम, क्रोध, लोभ, भय और पाँचवाँ स्वप्र--ये पाँच दोष बताये हैं उनका पूर्णतया उच्छेद करे। इनमेंसे क्रोधको शम (मनोनिग्रह) के द्वारा जीते, कामको संकल्पके त्यागद्वारा पराजित करे तथा धीर पुरुष सत्वगुणका सेवन करनेसे निद्राका उच्छेद कर सकता है

Transliteration

sattvasaṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati | vidvān yoge ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṃ ca pañcamaṃ svapnam—ime pañca doṣā uktās teṣāṃ pūrṇatayā ucchedaṃ kuryāt | eṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kartum arhati ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: By cultivating sattva, a steadfast person becomes fit to cut off sleep. The wise declare that in the discipline of yoga there are five faults—desire, anger, greed, fear, and as the fifth, dreaming; one should eradicate them completely. Among these, anger is to be conquered by calm self-restraint, desire is to be overcome by abandoning compulsive resolve, and the steady-minded, by nourishing sattva, can bring sleep to an end.

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṃsevana': 'cultivation/association with sattva (clarity, purity, balance)', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, self-possessed person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

• lethargy', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off

• eradication', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• meditative practice', 'kāma': 'desire, craving', 'krodha': 'anger', 'lobha': 'greed', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dreaming

• dream-state distraction', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'śama': 'calmness

• mental restraint', 'manonigraha': 'control of the mind', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandoning (self-binding) resolve/mental constructions

• renunciation of impulsive intention', 'parājayet / jayet': 'should defeat / should conquer', 'sattva-guṇa': 'the quality of clarity and harmony'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yoga requires removing five obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dreaming—through specific remedies: anger by śama (mental restraint), desire by giving up binding saṅkalpa (compulsive intention), and dullness/sleep by cultivating sattva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the instruction-heavy Shānti Parva, Vyāsa continues a didactic passage on inner discipline, listing common psychological impediments to yogic practice and prescribing practical methods to overcome them.