Shloka 52

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 yogake yo kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṃ ca pañcamaṃ svapnam—ime pañca doṣāḥ proktāḥ—tān pūrṇatayā ucchedayet | eṣāṃ madhye krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kartum śaknoti |

Translation

Vyāsa enseña que el hombre firme, al cultivar sattva (claridad y equilibrio), se vuelve capaz de cortar el tirón del sueño. El practicante sabio del yoga debe arrancar por completo las cinco faltas enseñadas por los entendidos: deseo, ira, codicia, miedo y, como quinta, el soñar. Entre ellas, la ira se vence mediante śama, el dominio de la mente; el deseo se derrota abandonando la resolución compulsiva y las intenciones nacidas del ansia; y, apoyándose de continuo en sattva, el disciplinado puede superar el sueño y mantenerse apto para la práctica interior.

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṃsevana': 'cultivation/constant resort to sattva (clarity, harmony, purity of mind)', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, self-possessed, disciplined person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

• lethargy/drowsiness as an obstacle', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'arhati': 'is fit/able/deserving to', 'vidvān': 'wise person

• learned practitioner', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• spiritual practice', 'kāma': 'desire

• craving that agitates the mind', 'krodha': 'anger

• reactive wrath', 'lobha': 'greed

• grasping', 'bhaya': 'fear

• anxiety', 'svapna': 'dream

• dream-state distraction/instability', 'doṣa': 'fault

• mental blemish/defect', 'śama': 'calmness

• pacification of the mind', 'manonigraha': 'control/restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandoning saṅkalpa (compulsive resolve, intention driven by craving)

• renunciation of desire-constructs', 'jayet': 'should conquer', 'parājayet': 'should defeat/overcome'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches yogic ethics of inner purification: uproot five mental defects—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dream-distraction—by specific remedies (anger through śama/mental restraint, desire through abandoning saṅkalpa), and cultivate sattva to overcome sleep and sustain disciplined awareness.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa speaks as an authoritative teacher, giving practical instructions on mental discipline and the removal of obstacles to yoga, emphasizing sattva as the basis for steadiness and wakeful clarity.