Shloka 44

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, 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 yoge ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṃ ca pañcamaṃ svapnam—ime pañca doṣā uktās teṣāṃ pūrṇatayā ucchedaṃ kuryāt | teṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet; tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ śaknoti ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: By cultivating sattva, a steadfast person becomes fit to cut off sleep. A wise practitioner of yoga should completely uproot the five faults that are taught—desire, anger, greed, fear, and, as the fifth, dreaming. Of these, he should conquer anger through calm self-restraint (control of the mind), and defeat desire by abandoning compulsive resolve and craving-intent. Thus, through sustained reliance on the sattva quality, the resolute person can overcome sleep and remain wakeful in disciplined practice.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'sattva-saṃsevana', 'definition': 'cultivation/association with sattva

• nurturing clarity, balance, purity'}, {'term': 'dhīra', 'definition': 'steadfast, self-possessed, resolute person'}, {'term': 'nidrā', 'definition': 'sleep

• here, a hindrance to yogic vigilance'}, {'term': 'uccheda', 'definition': 'cutting off, eradication, complete removal'}, {'term': 'vidvān', 'definition': 'the wise one

• a discerning practitioner'}, {'term': 'yoga', 'definition': 'discipline of inner integration

• meditative and ethical practice'}, {'term': 'kāma', 'definition': 'desire, craving, sense-driven impulse'}, {'term': 'krodha', 'definition': 'anger

• reactive heat of mind'}, {'term': 'lobha', 'definition': 'greed

• grasping and insatiability'}, {'term': 'bhaya', 'definition': 'fear

• anxiety that destabilizes discernment'}, {'term': 'svapna', 'definition': 'dreaming

• mental projection that disturbs wakeful clarity'}, {'term': 'śama', 'definition': 'calmness, tranquility

• mind-restraint (manonigraha)'}, {'term': 'manonigraha', 'definition': 'control/discipline of the mind'}, {'term': 'saṅkalpa-tyāga', 'definition': 'abandoning (compulsive) resolve/intentions that feed desire

• renunciation of craving-driven volition'}, {'term': 'sattva-guṇa', 'definition': 'the guṇa of clarity and harmony

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A yogic aspirant should uproot five inner faults—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dreaming—and cultivate sattva. Anger is mastered through śama (calm mind-restraint), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (renouncing craving-driven resolve), leading to wakeful clarity that overcomes sleep as an obstacle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Vyāsa delivers a didactic teaching on inner discipline. He lists specific psychological impediments to yoga and prescribes concrete counter-practices—mind-restraint and renunciation of desire-intent—framed within the broader ethical program of self-mastery.