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

ವ್ಯಾಸನು ಬೋಧಿಸಿದನು—ಸತ್ತ್ವ (ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಮತ್ವ)ವನ್ನು ಬೆಳೆಸುವುದರಿಂದ ಧೀರನು ಅತಿನಿದ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ಕಡಿದುಹಾಕಬಲ್ಲನು. ಯೋಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿದ ಐದು ದೋಷಗಳು—ಕಾಮ, ಕ್ರೋಧ, ಲೋಭ, ಭಯ ಮತ್ತು ಸ್ವಪ್ನಜನ್ಯ ಮೋಹ—ಇವನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಜ್ಞಾನಿ ಸಾಧಕನು ಬೇರುಸಹಿತ ನಿರ್ಮೂಲ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಅವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ರೋಧವನ್ನು ಶಮದಿಂದ, ಅಂದರೆ ಮನೋನಿಗ್ರಹದಿಂದ ಜಯಿಸಬೇಕು; ಕಾಮವನ್ನು ಹಠಸಂಕಲ್ಪ ಮತ್ತು ತೃಷ್ಣೆಯನ್ನು ತ್ಯಜಿಸುವುದರಿಂದ ಪರಾಜಯಗೊಳಿಸಬೇಕು. ಹೀಗೆ ಸತ್ತ್ವನಿಷ್ಠೆಯಿಂದ ಧೀರನು ಆಲಸ್ಯ-ನಿದ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ಜಯಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ.

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.