Shloka 51

Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)

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 pañcamaṃ svapnam iti pañca doṣān āhuḥ, tān sarvathā samucchedayet | teṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet; tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrām ucchettum arhati |

Translation

Vyāsa said: By cultivating sattva, a steadfast person becomes capable of cutting off sleep. The wise, speaking of yoga, declare five faults—desire, anger, greed, fear, and, as the fifth, sleep/dreaming. One should uproot these completely. Among them, anger is to be conquered by calm self-restraint, and desire is to be defeated by abandoning compulsive resolve and craving-intent; likewise, through the practice of sattva, the resolute can overcome sleep.

Word by Word

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

• lethargy/drowsiness as an obstacle', 'ucchettum (uccheda)': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• spiritual practice', 'kāma': 'desire, sensual craving', 'krodha': 'anger, wrath', 'lobha': 'greed, grasping', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dream

• in context, sleep/dreaming as a fault/obstacle', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'śama': 'calmness

• self-control', 'manonigraha': 'restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa': 'resolve, intention

• often craving-driven mental construction', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandonment of (craving-based) resolve/mental projections', 'parājayet': 'should defeat, overcome', 'sattva-guṇa': 'the quality of clarity and harmony'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yoga requires uprooting five inner obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and sleep/dreaming. Anger is mastered through śama (calm restraint of mind), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (dropping craving-driven intentions), and sleep is overcome by cultivating sattva (clarity and balance).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs on inner discipline: he lists specific psychological faults recognized by the wise in yogic practice and prescribes concrete methods to conquer them, emphasizing sattva as the basis for vigilance and self-mastery.