Shloka 23

Devanagari script

इन्द्रियाणां स्वकर्मेभ्य: श्रमादुपरमो यदा । भवतीन्द्रियसंत्यागादथ स्वपिति वै नर:,जब अपने-अपने कर्मोंसे थककर इन्द्रियाँ शान्त हो जाती हैं, तब इन्द्रियोंका त्याग करके जीवात्मा सो जाता है

Transliteration

indriyāṇāṁ svakarmebhyaḥ śramād uparamo yadā | bhavatīndriya-saṁtyāgād atha svapiti vai naraḥ ||

Translation

Asita said: When the senses, wearied by their own activities, grow calm and cease from fatigue, then—by relinquishing sensory engagement—a person truly falls asleep.

Word by Word

इन्द्रियाणाम्of the senses

स्वकर्मेभ्यःfrom their own activities

श्रमात्from fatigue

उपरमःcessation; rest

यदाwhen

भवतिoccurs; becomes

इन्द्रियसंत्यागात्from the withdrawal/abandonment of the senses

अथthen

स्वपितिsleeps

वैindeed

नरःa man; person

Speaker

असित उवाच

Characters & Entities

Asita

indriyāṇi (the senses)

naraḥ (the person)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sleep is presented as a natural example of indriya-nigraha (restraint/withdrawal of the senses): when sensory activity ceases due to fatigue and one lets go of engagement with sense-objects, the person enters sleep. Ethically, it highlights that inner quiet arises from reducing sensory outwardness.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Asita’s instruction within the Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse, he explains a psychological process: the senses tire from their own functions, become calm, and by this withdrawal the person falls asleep—used to illustrate how cessation of sensory activity leads to a settled state.