Shloka 7
Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)
चक्षु:श्रोत्रे च मनसा मनोवाचं च कर्मणा । अप्रमादाद् भयं जह्माद् दम्भं प्राज्ञोपसेवनात्
cakṣuḥśrotre ca manasā manovācaṃ ca karmaṇā | apramādād bhayaṃ jahyād dambhaṃ prājñopasevanāt | sattvasaṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati |
Vyāsa dit : «Qu’on garde les sens et les puissances intérieures dans une chaîne de discipline : protéger les yeux et les oreilles par l’esprit, et contenir l’esprit et la parole par l’action juste. Par la vigilance, qu’on rejette la peur; par la fréquentation des sages, qu’on abandonne hypocrisie et faux-semblants. L’homme ferme, en cultivant le sattva (clarté et équilibre), devient apte à trancher la lourdeur du sommeil.»
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cultivate vigilant self-restraint: purify perception and expression by governing the senses through the mind and governing mind and speech through disciplined action; abandon fear through carefulness, abandon hypocrisy through the company of the wise, and reduce lethargy/sleep by cultivating sattva.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Vyāsa delivers a compact set of practical guidelines for ethical self-mastery—linking vigilance, good association, and sattvic cultivation to the purification of senses, mind, speech, and conduct.