Shloka 43

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 yogake ye kāma-krodha-lobha-bhayaṃ pañcamaṃ svapnam—ime pañca doṣāḥ proktāḥ, teṣāṃ pūrṇatayā ucchedaṃ kuryāt | teṣu krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kartum śaknoti |

Translation

व्यासः शिक्षयामास—सत्त्वसंसेवनाद् धीरः निद्राम् अत्यन्ताम् उच्छेत्तुं समर्थः भवति। योगे प्रोक्तान् पञ्च दोषान्—कामं क्रोधं लोभं भयं पञ्चमं स्वप्नजन्यं मोहं च—विद्वान् समूलान् उच्छिन्यात्। तेषु क्रोधः शमेन मनोनिग्रहेण जेतव्यः; कामः संकल्पदुराग्रहत्यागेन पराजेयः। एवं सत्त्वाभ्यासेन धीरः आलस्यतन्द्रां जयति, अन्तर्जयस्य पथं च प्राप्नोति।

Word by Word

• {'sattva-saṃsevana': 'cultivation/association with sattva

• practice of clarity, purity, balance', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, composed, self-possessed person', 'nidrā': 'sleep

• here especially tamasic drowsiness/lethargy', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'arhati': 'is fit/able/deserving to', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• spiritual practice', 'kāma': 'desire, craving, sensual/egoic impulse', 'krodha': 'anger, wrath', 'lobha': 'greed, grasping', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dream

• here dream-born confusion/instability', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, moral-psychological blemish', 'śama': 'calmness

• mental restraint, pacification of the mind', 'manonigraha': 'control/restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa': 'resolve, intention, mental construction

• craving-intent', 'tyāga': 'abandonment, renunciation', 'parājayet / jayet': 'should defeat / should conquer', 'sattvaguṇa': 'the quality of sattva (clarity, light, harmony)'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches yogic self-mastery: uproot five inner faults (desire, anger, greed, fear, and dream-born delusion). Anger is subdued by śama (mental restraint), desire by abandoning saṅkalpa (craving-intent), and excessive sleep is overcome by cultivating sattva (clarity and balance).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vyāsa speaks as a spiritual authority, giving practical guidance on inner discipline—identifying key psychological obstacles and prescribing specific methods to conquer them as part of yogic and ethical training.