Shloka 47

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-bhayaṃ ca pañcamaṃ svapnam—ime pañca doṣāḥ proktās teṣāṃ pūrṇatayā ucchedaṃ kuryāt | teṣāṃ madhye krodhaṃ śamena (manonigrahena) jayet, kāmaṃ saṅkalpatyāgena parājayet, tathā dhīraḥ sattvaguṇasaṃsevanena nidrāyā ucchedaṃ kartum arhati ||

Translation

व्यास उवाच— सत्त्वसंसेवनाद् धीरो निद्रालस्यं चातिक्रम्य जागरूकः स्यात्। योगे पञ्च दोषाः— कामः क्रोधो लोभो भयं पञ्चमः स्वप्नमोह इति; तान् समूलान् उच्छिन्यात्। क्रोधं शमेन मनोनिग्रहलक्षणेन जयेत्, कामं च संकल्पत्यागेन पराजयेत्। एवं सत्त्वाभ्यासेन शुद्धाचारः साधकः जाग्रतव्रती भवति।

Word by Word

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

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

• also lethargy/torpor in a yogic-ethical sense', 'ucchettum / uccheda': 'to cut off, uproot, eradicate', 'vidvān': 'the wise, learned person', 'yoga': 'discipline of inner integration

• spiritual practice', 'kāma': 'desire, craving', 'krodha': 'anger', 'lobha': 'greed', 'bhaya': 'fear', 'svapna': 'dream

• here suggesting dream-delusion/mental projection as a fault', 'doṣa': 'fault, defect, moral-psychological blemish', 'śama': 'calmness

• mental restraint, pacification of the mind', 'manonigraha': 'control/restraint of the mind', 'saṅkalpa-tyāga': 'abandoning (compulsive) intention/resolve

• renunciation of craving-driven volitions', 'parājayet / jayet': 'should defeat / should conquer', 'guṇa': 'quality (sattva, rajas, tamas)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

For progress in yoga and ethical life, one should uproot key inner faults—desire, anger, greed, fear, and dream-delusion—by specific disciplines: anger through śama (mental restraint), desire through saṅkalpa-tyāga (dropping craving-driven intentions), and lethargy/sleep through cultivating sattva (clarity and balance).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic flow of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa speaks as a teacher, giving practical inner methods for self-mastery. The focus is not external action but the purification of the mind and character required for yogic steadiness.