Shloka 45

Devanagari script

सत्त्वसंसेवनाद धीरो निद्रामुच्छेत्तुमरहति । विद्वानोंने योगके जो काम

Transliteration

sattvasaṃsevanād dhīro nidrām ucchettum arhati | vidvān yoge ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṃ ca pañcamaṃ svapnam—ime pañca doṣā uktās teṣāṃ pūrṇatayā ucchedaṃ kuryāt | eṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kartum arhati ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: By cultivating sattva, a steadfast person becomes fit to cut off sleep. The wise declare that in the discipline of yoga there are five faults—desire, anger, greed, fear, and as the fifth, dreaming; one should eradicate them completely. Among these, anger is to be conquered by calm self-restraint, desire is to be overcome by abandoning compulsive resolve, and the steady-minded, by nourishing sattva, can bring sleep to an end.

Word by Word

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

• lethargy', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off

• eradication', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

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

• dream-state distraction', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, obstacle', 'śama': 'calmness

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

• renunciation of impulsive intention', 'parājayet / jayet': 'should defeat / should conquer', 'sattva-guṇa': 'the quality of clarity and harmony'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yoga requires removing five obstacles—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dreaming—through specific remedies: anger by śama (mental restraint), desire by giving up binding saṅkalpa (compulsive intention), and dullness/sleep by cultivating sattva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the instruction-heavy Shānti Parva, Vyāsa continues a didactic passage on inner discipline, listing common psychological impediments to yogic practice and prescribing practical methods to overcome them.