Shloka 37

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

Transliteration

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

Translation

Vyāsa dit : En cultivant sattva, l’homme résolu devient capable de retrancher l’excès de sommeil. Le pratiquant avisé du yoga doit déraciner entièrement les cinq défauts enseignés par les savants : désir, colère, avidité, peur, et (comme cinquième) rêve/égarement. Parmi eux, la colère se vainc par śama, la maîtrise paisible du mental ; le désir se défait en abandonnant saṅkalpa, la résolution compulsive. Ainsi, en nourrissant sattva, le discipliné surmonte la somnolence et la lourdeur.

Word by Word

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

• here, torpor or excessive sleepiness', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'vidvān': 'wise person, knower', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

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

• mental wandering in sleep', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, moral/psychological blemish', 'śama': 'calmness

• mental restraint, pacification of the mind', 'manonigraha': 'control/restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa': 'resolve, intention, mental construction

• often desire-laden volition', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandonment of desire-driven resolve/mental projections', 'jayet': 'should conquer', 'parājayet': 'should defeat'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A yogic aspirant should uproot five inner defects—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dream-wandering—using specific antidotes: calm self-restraint for anger, abandonment of desire-driven resolve for desire, and cultivation of sattva to overcome lethargy and excessive sleep.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on inner discipline, Vyāsa delivers practical guidance on conquering psychological obstacles that hinder yoga and ethical steadiness, emphasizing sattva and mental restraint as methods.