Shloka 17
Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)
जैसे मछलीमार जाल काटनेवाली दुष्ट मछलीको पहले पकड़ता है, उसी तरह योगवेत्ता साधक पहले अपने मनको वशगमें करे। उसके बाद कानका, फिर नेत्रका, तदनन्तर जिह्ठा और प्राण आदिका निग्रह करे ।।
tata etāni saṁyamya manasi sthāpayet yatī | tathaivāpohya saṅkalpān mano hātmany dhārayet | sattvasaṁsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati ||
Vyāsa berkata: Karena itu, setelah mengekang semua daya ini, sang pertapa hendaknya menempatkannya di dalam batin. Demikian pula, dengan menyingkirkan segala niat dan bangunan pikiran, ia harus menahan batin teguh di dalam Diri. Dengan menumbuhkan sattva, orang yang tabah layak memutus kantuk (torpor). Di sini, inti ajaran adalah pemerintahan batin: kendali dari dalam.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Begin yoga by restraining the faculties and placing them under the governance of the mind; then remove saṅkalpas (impulsive intentions and mental fabrications) and steady the mind in the ātman. Cultivating sattva supports alertness and helps uproot nidrā understood as torpor and dullness that obstruct practice.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Vyāsa gives practical guidance for an ascetic’s inner discipline: sensory restraint, withdrawal from proliferating intentions, and stabilization of awareness in the Self, emphasizing sattva as the condition for sustained wakeful practice.