Shloka 40

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

Transliteration

sattvasaṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati | vidvān yoge ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhaya-svapna iti pañca doṣāḥ proktās teṣāṃ pūrṇatayā ucchedaṃ kuryāt | teṣāṃ madhye krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kartum arhati ||

Translation

Vyāsa teaches that a steadfast person, by cultivating sattva (clarity and balance), becomes capable of cutting off excessive sleep. A wise practitioner should completely uproot the five faults spoken of in yoga—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dream-delusion. Among these, anger is to be conquered through śama, the restraint of the mind; desire is to be defeated by abandoning compulsive intentions and cravings; and through sustained reliance on sattva the resolute person can overcome the pull of sleep and inertia.

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṃsevana': 'cultivation/association with sattva

• practice of clarity, purity, balance', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, self-possessed, resolute person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

• also lethargy/torpor in an ethical-ascetic context', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner restraint and integration

• practical spiritual method', 'kāma': 'desire, craving, sensual/egoic impulse', 'krodha': 'anger, wrath', 'lobha': 'greed, grasping', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dream

• here as a fault implying delusive mental projection', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, moral-psychological blemish', 'śama': 'calmness

• pacification of the inner organ (mind)', 'manonigraha': 'control/restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandonment of (self-serving) intentions, resolve-born cravings, mental constructions', 'jayet': 'should conquer', 'parājayet': 'should defeat, overcome'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a practical ethic of inner conquest: uproot five yogic defects—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dream-delusion—by specific counter-practices. Anger is subdued through śama (mental restraint), desire through abandoning saṅkalpa (compulsive intention/craving), and lethargy/sleep through sustained cultivation of sattva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Vyāsa speaks as a teacher, laying out a concise yogic regimen: identify key inner enemies and apply targeted disciplines to purify conduct and stabilize the mind.