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, क्रोध, लोभ, भय और पाँचवाँ स्वप्र--ये पाँच दोष बताये हैं उनका पूर्णतया उच्छेद करे। इनमेंसे क्रोधको शम (मनोनिग्रह) के द्वारा जीते, कामको संकल्पके त्यागद्वारा पराजित करे तथा धीर पुरुष सत्वगुणका सेवन करनेसे निद्राका उच्छेद कर सकता है

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

व्यासांनी शिकविले—सत्त्व (स्वच्छता व समत्व) जोपासल्याने धीर पुरुष अतिनिद्रेचा उच्छेद करू शकतो. योगात सांगितलेले पाच दोष—काम, क्रोध, लोभ, भय आणि स्वप्नजन्य मोह—यांचा ज्ञानी साधकाने मुळासकट नाश करावा. त्यात क्रोध शमाने, म्हणजे मनोनिग्रहाने जिंकावा; काम हट्टी संकल्प व तृष्णा सोडून पराभूत करावा. अशा प्रकारे सत्त्वात स्थिर राहून धीर पुरुष आळस-निद्रेवर विजय मिळवतो.

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.