Shloka 6
Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)
धृत्या शिक्षोदरं रक्षेत् पाणिपादं च चक्षुषा
dhṛtyā śiśnodaraṁ rakṣet pāṇipādaṁ ca cakṣuṣā | sattvasaṁsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati ||
Vyāsa dit : «Par la fermeté, qu’on garde l’organe de génération et le ventre—en bridant l’indulgence des sens et l’obsession de la nourriture. Par la vigilance des yeux, qu’on retienne mains et pieds afin qu’ils ne s’égarent pas vers des actes fautifs. Et, en cultivant le sattva, l’homme maître de lui devient apte à trancher la torpeur du sommeil (lourdeur et négligence).»
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Guard the roots of misconduct—sexual impulse and appetite—through fortitude; keep actions (hands and feet) under the supervision of awareness (the eyes); and cultivate sattva to overcome sleep as lethargy and negligence, thereby sustaining dharmic conduct.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on right living and inner discipline, Vyāsa delivers a practical regimen of self-restraint: regulate bodily appetites, monitor outward actions, and refine the mind through sattvic cultivation so that one becomes vigilant and ethically steady.