Shloka 39

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

sattvasaṁsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati | vidvān yogake ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṁ ca pañcamaṁ svapnam—ime pañca doṣāḥ proktāḥ—tān sarvathā ucchedayet | teṣāṁ madhye krodhaṁ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṁ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṁsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṁ kartum arhati ||

Translation

ವ್ಯಾಸನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಸತ್ತ್ವಗುಣವನ್ನು ಸೇವಿಸುವುದರಿಂದ ಧೀರನು ಅತಿನಿದ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ಕಡಿದುಹಾಕಲು ಸಮರ್ಥನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಯೋಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೋಧಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ ಐದು ದೋಷಗಳು—ಕಾಮ, ಕ್ರೋಧ, ಲೋಭ, ಭಯ ಮತ್ತು ಐದನೆಯದು ಸ್ವಪ್ನ—ಇವನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಜ್ಞಾನಿ ಸಾಧಕನು ಬೇರುಸಹಿತ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ನಿರ್ಮೂಲ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಇವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರೋಧವನ್ನು ಶಮದಿಂದ, ಅಂದರೆ ಮನೋನಿಗ್ರಹದಿಂದ ಜಯಿಸಬೇಕು; ಕಾಮವನ್ನು ಸಂಕಲ್ಪ-ಆಸಕ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ತ್ಯಜಿಸುವುದರಿಂದ ಪರಾಜಯಗೊಳಿಸಬೇಕು. ಹೀಗೆ ಸತ್ತ್ವನಿಷ್ಠೆಯಿಂದ ಧೀರನು ನಿದ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ಜಯಿಸಿ ಸಾಧನೆಗೆ ಯೋಗ್ಯನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ.

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṁsevana': 'cultivation/association with sattva (clarity, purity, balance)', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, self-possessed person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

• here, lethargy/excessive sleep as an obstacle', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eliminate', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• meditative/ethical practice', 'kāma': 'desire, craving', 'krodha': 'anger', 'lobha': 'greed, avarice', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dreaming

• mental agitation in sleep, distraction', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'śama': 'calmness

• mental pacification, self-control', 'manonigraha': 'restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa': 'resolve, intention

• often obsessive mental construction', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandonment of (binding) resolve/fixation', 'parājayet / jayet': 'should defeat / should conquer', 'sattva-guṇa': 'the sattva quality among the guṇas'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A yogic aspirant should uproot five inner obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dreaming—using specific remedies: anger through śama (calm self-restraint), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (dropping binding mental fixations), and lethargy/sleep through sustained cultivation of sattva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on conduct and inner discipline, Vyāsa delivers a didactic teaching: he lists key psychological दोषs that hinder yoga and prescribes practical methods to conquer them, emphasizing sattva as the supportive foundation for wakeful, steady practice.