Shloka 42

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 doṣāḥ kāmaḥ krodho lobho bhayaṃ ca pañcamaḥ svapnaḥ—etān pañca doṣān samyag ucchedayet | teṣāṃ madhye krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kuryāt ||

Translation

Vyāsa says: By cultivating sattva, a steadfast person becomes fit to cut off excessive sleep. A wise practitioner should completely uproot the five faults taught in yoga—desire, anger, greed, fear, and, as the fifth, dreaming. Among these, anger is to be conquered through śama (restraint of the mind), desire is to be defeated by abandoning self-willed resolve, and through the steady practice of sattva one can overcome sleep.

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṃsevana': 'cultivation/constant resort to sattva (clarity, balance, purity)', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, self-possessed person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

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

• spiritual practice', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'kāma': 'desire, craving', 'krodha': 'anger', 'lobha': 'greed', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dreaming

• mental agitation in sleep', 'śama': 'calmness

• mental restraint/control (manonigraha)', 'manonigraha': 'restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandoning (self-centered) resolve/volitional craving

• renunciation of impulsive intentions', 'parājayet': 'should defeat, overcome', 'jayet': 'should conquer'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches disciplined inner purification: uproot five yogic obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dreaming—by specific remedies (anger through mental restraint, desire through abandoning self-serving resolve) and by cultivating sattva to overcome lethargy and excessive sleep.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and inner governance, Vyāsa delivers practical yogic counsel, listing key mental दोष (obstacles) and prescribing methods to conquer them as part of ethical and spiritual training.