Shloka 33
Adhyāya 240: Indriya–Manas–Buddhi–Ātman — The Inner Hierarchy and Restraint (इन्द्रिय-मनस्-बुद्धि-आत्म-क्रमः)
वेदनार्ता: प्रजा दृष्टया समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चन: । एतस्मिन् विरतो मार्गे विरमेन्न च मोहित:
vedanārtāḥ prajā dṛṣṭvā samaloṣṭāśmakāñcanaḥ | etasmin virato mārge viramenn na ca mohitaḥ | sattvasaṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati |
Vyāsa said: Seeing the people afflicted by suffering in their pursuit of gain, one should become dispassionate toward wealth, regarding a clod of earth, a stone, and gold as equal. Having entered this path, the renunciate should neither abandon the discipline nor fall into delusion. By cultivating sattva, the steady-minded person is able to cut off sleep (sloth and heedlessness) and remain fit for yoga.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cultivate dispassion toward wealth by seeing gold as no different from a clod or a stone, and remain steady on the yogic path without relapse or delusion; by cultivating sattva (clarity and balance), one can overcome sleep/torpor as an obstacle to disciplined practice.
Vyāsa continues an instructional discourse in the Śānti Parva, advising a seeker/renunciate on inner discipline: observing the suffering of people driven by acquisition, the seeker should adopt equanimity toward possessions and persist in the path of yoga through sattvic cultivation.